Build 26220.7344: Windows Insider Beta Channel, December 2025. Native AI agent connections and Windows MIDI Services

For: Insiders in the Dev and Beta Channels

• The Search window no longer unexpectedly floats above the taskbar.¹

• The context menu no longer shows an AI Actions section when no AI Actions are available or enabled.²
• File Explorer can search some SMB shares that it might not have found after recent updates.³

• Fingerprint recognition works again for some Insiders who lost it after recent builds.⁴

For: Insiders in the Dev and Beta Channels

• The Project pane appears after you press Windows key + P.⁵

For: Insiders using the Xbox full screen experience on devices without a touch screen

• The virtual keyboard appears when needed for controller users on devices without a touch screen.⁶

• Using a controller no longer triggers the reported blue-screen crash for some Insiders.⁷
  Addresses a bugcheck with error DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL.

For: Insiders running Windows Terminal elevated from a non-admin account

• The PC is less likely to freeze when someone without an administrator account tries to run Windows Terminal with elevated permissions.⁸

For: Developers, IT professionals and Windows users

• AI agents can discover and connect to apps, tools and services through a secure Windows registry on the device.⁹
  Windows adds native Model Context Protocol support. Connectors in the on-device registry have their own identity and audit trail.

For: Windows users; natural-language search is for Copilot+ PCs

• With your consent, agents can manage, organize and find local files. On Copilot+ PCs, they can also search for files using natural language.¹⁰
  Natural-language search can use file descriptions, content, metadata and image classification.

For: Copilot+ PC users

• On Copilot+ PCs, you can ask an agent to check or change settings, or open pages such as display, mouse, keyboard and sound.¹¹

For: Windows Professional users on non-domain-joined devices

• Quick Machine Recovery turns on automatically for Windows Professional devices that are not joined to a domain. Domain-joined enterprise PCs are unchanged.¹²
  For domain-joined enterprise computers, Quick Machine Recovery stays off unless the organization turns it on.

For: Insiders in the Dev and Beta Channels

• A new App Updates page in Settings shows app update progress and lets you take action if needed. No apps use the platform yet.¹³
  UOP is partially enabled in the Dev and Beta Channels; full enablement is planned for these channels soon. Apps register through APIs and continue using their own update backends.

For: Musicians and users of MIDI apps and devices

• Existing music apps can use MIDI 1.0 and MIDI 2.0 devices through the new service, with multiple apps able to open the same MIDI port and with custom port names.¹⁴
  Adds in-service translation for WinMM MIDI 1.0 and WinRT MIDI 1.0 APIs, allowing either API to use MIDI 1.0 or MIDI 2.0 devices.
• MIDI devices can send and receive loopback and app-to-app MIDI.¹⁵

For: Musicians and users of MIDI apps and devices

• Windows MIDI Services includes performance improvements and bug fixes.¹⁶

• When you need an app that is not installed, Open With can show it as available to install in the app list instead of requiring you to look for it in Microsoft Store.¹⁷