Build 26220.7523: Windows Insider Beta Channel, December 2025. Copilot on the taskbar and custom Narrator announcements

• When the taskbar is uncombined and crowded, only windows that do not fit move to the overflow area.¹
• App labels on the taskbar display correctly when multiple windows of an app are open.²

• A white flash no longer appears when navigating between File Explorer pages.³
• OneDrive files can open in RemoteApp sessions instead of showing error 0x80070057.⁶

For: File Explorer users

• Searches use fewer duplicate indexing operations, which should make them faster and reduce resource use during file operations.⁴
• Search results are more reliable across system and secondary drive locations.⁵

For: Voice Access users navigating File Explorer Gallery

• You can open a photo in Gallery with the Voice Access command “click [number]” instead of saying “double click.”⁷

For: Insiders

• The login screen is less likely to become unresponsive or fail to render.⁸

For: Insiders using Adaptive Brightness

• Adaptive Brightness works immediately after you restart your PC.⁹

For: Windows Insiders

• Fewer Insiders should see error 0x800F0922 when installing updates.¹⁰

For: Insiders using Japanese as the display language

• Text displays correctly in Windows Recovery when Japanese is the display language.¹¹

For: Insiders migrating a Windows license during an upgrade

• A valid Windows license migration is less likely to fail during an upgrade because the device could not register with the activation server.¹²
  The issue involved CLIP / online entitlement registration and could require the troubleshooter.

• External virtual switches keep their physical network adapter connection after the host restarts, avoiding loss of network connectivity for virtual machines.¹³
  Fixes a loss of physical NIC bindings that caused external switches to revert to internal mode.

For: Insiders using the Share dialog

• The Share dialog no longer unexpectedly offers Shell Experience Host as a sharing option.¹⁴

For: Insiders changing account types

• The Change Account Type dialog better matches the other modern dialogs in Settings.¹⁵
  The dialog is under Settings > Accounts > Other accounts.

For: Windows Insiders

• The message “There’s a newer build available” no longer appears when there is no newer build available.¹⁶

For: Commercial Insiders in the United States with Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses

• Commercial users can open Microsoft 365 Copilot from the taskbar, invoke agents, and search for apps, files, and settings.¹⁷
  Opt-in rollout for commercial Windows Insider Program customers in the United States with Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses.

For: Commercial Insiders in the United States with Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses

• You can track Researcher’s progress from the taskbar, see updates when hovering over its icon, and get a notification when its report is complete.¹⁸
  Opt-in rollout for commercial Windows Insider Program customers in the United States with Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses.

For: Developers and users of apps that support Agent Launchers

• Apps can make their AI agents discoverable across Windows and supporting apps, where you can open an agent’s chat.¹⁹
  Developers can register agents statically at install time or dynamically at runtime.

For: Narrator users

• You can choose which details Narrator announces for different controls and change their order. You can preview the result and restore the defaults.²⁰
  Press Narrator key + Ctrl + P to customize announcements. Natural-language input is available only on Copilot+ PCs; changes apply to that control type throughout the current app.

For: People using voice typing with the touch keyboard

• Voice typing no longer uses a full-screen overlay; its animations appear on the dictation key instead.²¹

For: Windows Insiders

• The Discover widget shows short Windows tips, including shortcuts, productivity suggestions, and security reminders.²²
  Add it from Add widgets in the Widgets Board or from Settings > Personalization > Lock screen.

For: Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels

• Paint can automatically hide its toolbar to give the canvas more room.²³
  In Paint version 11.2511.281.0, use the ribbon chevron to enable Automatically hide toolbar. Choose Always show toolbar to restore the default view.

For: Insiders using the Settings Agent in supported locales

• The Settings Agent can now work in more languages, including German, Portuguese, Spanish, Korean, Japanese, Hindi, Italian, and Simplified Chinese.²⁴
  New locales: de-de, pt-br, pt-pt, es-es, es-mx, ko-kr, ja-jp, hi-in, it-it, zh-cn.

For: Insiders outside the European Economic Area and China

• You can send a custom prompt and selected screen content from Click to Do to Microsoft 365 Copilot.²⁵
  This change is not yet rolling out to Windows Insiders in the European Economic Area or China.

For: People using Arabic keyboard layouts

• The Arabic 101 keyboard layout lets you use the right Alt key to type additional symbols, including the Saudi Riyal symbol with AltGr + S.²⁶

For: Voice Access users

• A redesigned setup flow helps you download the speech model for your language and choose a microphone.²⁷

For: Insiders receiving the taskbar animations

• The rollout of new animations when sliding between open apps on the taskbar is temporarily stopped while an issue is investigated.²⁸

For: Insiders signed in with a Microsoft account

• For consumer cloud files, people icons show who recently interacted with a file and offer quick ways to start a chat or call.²⁹
  People icons appear under Activity in File Explorer Home and in Recommended, Favorites, and Recent. Hovering over or clicking one opens a Windows People Card.