Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.7653 (Dev Channel) released
Microsoft has pushed the Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.7653 (that's KB5074157) into the Dev Channel for Insiders to try out.
A big part of this latest update is a new look for some dialogs in Settings, specifically under "Accounts > Other Users." They've switched to the modern WinUI framework and included support for dark mode. For example, setting up an account from work or school now looks cleaner than before and might be easier on the eyes.
Keep in mind, though, this particular change won't show up unless you've got a domain-joined work or school account set up already.
Click to Do has also seen some action here, gaining faster performance. That means Copilot suggestions appear quicker when you ask for them mid-task, but yeah, that speed boost might not be rolling out everywhere just yet, maybe not even in the EEA or China quite yet.
Elsewhere in the OS, a little update allows users to set .webp images as their desktop background now. It's tucked into Settings > Personalization > Desktop Background, so you can pick those web photo files just like any other format.
On the fixing front, Microsoft is tackling some bugs from earlier builds. One issue that caused problems was the taskbar occasionally jumping up before users interacted with the bottom of the screen, which could disrupt their attempts to access apps in that area. There were also issues popping up where the Start menu or notification center wouldn't open properly on a click (though keyboard shortcuts still worked).
They've fixed another one too, about a memory leak specifically tied to opening the Start menu. That was something that could slowly degrade performance over time with repeated use.
For Arabic and Hebrew Insiders, there's also good news if their taskbar icons aren't centered. The Start menu no longer opens incorrectly for them; it seems properly aligned now.
Beyond those specific fixes, this build addresses other things like a missing Bluetooth battery level display for some folks in certain regions (even though the device reported its own battery), and unexpected behavior when using Xbox's full-screen experience on Windows PCs, though that fix is still being checked out thoroughly, so you might bump into issues if they're expecting something different.
And yeah, there were also smaller things fixed, like clipped text appearing in msinfo32 sometimes, trouble installing MSIX apps via .appinstaller files, and Notepad failing to show underscores with specific fonts. They even handled a situation where explorer.exe could hang briefly on the first log-in if particular startup apps were involved.
Still, hold up: some problems stick around despite these efforts. Apps using FSE (Xbox full-screen experience) might still exhibit odd behavior, perhaps expecting a fixed size or launching extra windows unexpectedly in that mode. Microsoft is poking into another thing where apps aren't appearing correctly in the system tray when they should.
But here's a hitch: some insiders are reporting black screens specifically on their secondary monitors after updating. It seems to affect a small number, leaving them with half of their setup non-functional visually.
Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.7653 (Dev Channel)
Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.7653 (KB5074157) to the Dev Channel which is the same build as the January 16th
Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.7653 (Dev Channel)
