Windows 11 Release Preview 26100.7918 & 26200.7918 – What’s actually useful?
The latest Release Preview for Windows 11 (build 26100.7918 on 24H2 and build 26200.7918 on 25H2) landed on February 17, 2026. It adds a handful of tweaks that most users will notice right away, plus a few deeper changes that only the tinkerer will explore.
New emojis (Emoji 16.0)
A tiny set of fresh emojis appears in the panel now—one per major category. They’re not groundbreaking, but they give the chat window a little extra personality without the usual “emoji overload” that some updates bring.
First‑sign‑in restore for organizations
Windows Backup now pulls user settings and Store apps automatically when a device signs into a Microsoft Entra hybrid‑joined environment. In practice this means a corporate laptop refreshed from scratch will look familiar after the first login, cutting down the “where did my shortcuts go?” moments that IT departments hate.
Quick Machine Recovery (QMR) enabled by default on Pro
Professional editions that aren’t domain‑joined or managed now get QMR turned on automatically. The feature was previously limited to Home users, so a solo‑entrepreneur can now roll back a botched driver install as easily as hitting “Reset this PC.” For managed machines the setting stays off unless an admin flips the switch.
Taskbar network speed test
Right‑clicking the Wi‑Fi or Cellular icon now launches a browser‑based speed test. It measures Ethernet, Wi‑Fi and cellular links without needing third‑party tools. The test is handy for quick diagnostics, though power users may still prefer dedicated utilities that log results over time.
Uncombined taskbar overflow fix
When the taskbar is set to uncombined, windows from a single app no longer shove the entire group into the overflow area when space runs low. Only the orphaned windows slide away, keeping the visible portion tidy and preventing the “mysterious empty gap” that used to appear.
Direct link to Microsoft benefits
A new entry in the Start‑menu account menu points straight at account.microsoft.com. It’s a small shortcut for anyone who wants to check Xbox Game Pass or Azure credits without hunting through Settings.
Entra ID group and role SID resolution
Windows can now translate cloud‑only Entra security identifiers into readable names. This makes file permissions that reference Entra groups display correctly on the local machine, eliminating the “unknown SID” entries that show up in ACL dialogs for hybrid setups.
Camera pan/tilt controls
Supported webcams expose pan and tilt sliders under Settings => Bluetooth & devices => Cameras. It’s a convenient way to adjust field of view without third‑party software, though only a handful of modern lenses support the feature yet.
Built‑in Sysmon (optional)
Sysmon functionality ships with Windows now, but it stays disabled out of the box. To enable it, open Settings => System => Optional features => More Windows features and tick “Sysmon,” or run:
Dism /Online /Enable-Feature /FeatureName:Sysmon sysmon -i
If a third‑party Sysmon version is already installed, it must be removed first. The native implementation writes events to the standard Windows event log, which can be fed into security tools without extra parsers. For most home users this is overkill, but for anyone hunting covert malware it’s a welcome addition.
Widgets get a full‑page settings pane
Widget Settings now open as a dedicated page inside the Widgets app instead of a pop‑up dialog. The change feels more like a proper settings experience and less like an afterthought.
.WEBP desktop wallpapers
Windows now accepts .webp files for background images, expanding the range of high‑efficiency pictures you can use without converting to PNG or JPG first.
Minor UI polish and performance tweaks
Search shows a magnifying‑glass icon in Task Manager, Storage dialogs have a refreshed look, temporary‑file scans run faster, and the Update Settings page feels snappier. Print spooler latency improvements help heavy‑duty office printers stay responsive, while display resume times on docked laptops with closed lids see measurable gains.
File Explorer “Extract all” shortcut
When browsing inside an extracted folder that isn’t a ZIP archive, the command bar now shows an “Extract all” button—useful for cases where archives were unpacked by third‑party tools but you still need to pull out nested files.
Releasing Windows 11 Builds 26100.7918 and 26200.7918 to the Release Preview Channel
Hello Windows Insiders, Today we’re releasing Windows 11 Builds 26100.7918 and 26200.7918 (KB5077241) to Insiders in the Release Preview Channel on Windows 11, versions 24H2 (Build 26100) and 25H2 (Build 26200).
Releasing Windows 11 Builds 26100.7918 and 26200.7918 to the Release Preview Channel
