Windows Insider Preview Build Highlights
Windows 10 Insider Preview Features (20H1)
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Control over restarting apps at sign-in.
When turned on, Windows automatically saves your restartable apps when signing out, restarting, or shutting down Windows, and restarts them next time you sign in. (Build 18965)
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More visibility of problems in Feedback Hub.
Problems and Suggestions are more clearly differentiated, making it easer to find problems similar your own and leaving more effective feedback. (Build 18965)
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GPU temperature comes to Task Manager.
If you have a dedicated GPU card, we will now bubble up the current temperature next to its listing in the Performance Tab. (Build 18963)
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Set names for your different virtual desktops.
Names help cement separation between workspaces and persist even after reboots. (Build 18963)
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Install optional features at the same time.
The Optional Features page in Settings lets you install multiple features all at once. You can also see the install date and other useful information. (Build 18963)
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Adjust Mouse Cursor speed to Settings.
You can now set your mouse cursor speed from within Settings. Go to Settings>Devices>Mouse. (Build 18963)
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More responsive updates for Notepad. Updates will be automatically available via the store.
This will allow us the flexibility to respond to issues and feedback outside the bounds of Windows releases. (Build 18963)
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Sync your account picture across different apps and sites.
Your updated picture will now show up quickly across Windows, apps, and many of the Microsoft sites you use every day. (Build 18963)
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A more powerful Windows Search.
Updates include Improved spell correction for Apps & Settings searches plus hints to improve Best match results. (Build 18963)
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A more comprehensive view of your network status.
The Network & Internet landing page in Settings provides more information at a glance about your device’s connectivity. (Build 18956)
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Traditional Chinese IME improvements.
Updates include faster switching between [中] mode and [英] mode plus an easier way to change the candidate font size. (Build 18956)
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE IMPROVED TRADITIONAL CHINESE TYPING EXPERIENCE
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Option to move the Calculator app so its always on top.
Simply click the icon next to the calculator mode name so it remains above other windows on your desktop. (Build 18956)
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Improved Japanese typing experience.
Updates to the Japanese Input Method Editor (IME) include improved discoverability of key assignment settings. (Build 18950)
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Zoom in on screenshots in Snip & Sketch.
You can now zoom in on your screenshots if they’re a bit too small for you to annotate on (and yes, CTRL+Plus, CTRL+Minus and Ctrl+Mouse wheel are supported!). (Build 18950)
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An improved Cortana experience.
The new, chat-based UI supports both light and dark themes in Windows. New speech and language models provide faster, more reliabile performance. (Build 18945)
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Connect to your WSL 2 Linux networking apps using localhost.
We've added the option to connect via localhost to WSL 2 Linux apps from Windows and global WSL configuration options. (Build 18945)
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A better email reading experience in Narrator.
Narrator provides a more efficient reading experience when reading messages in Outlook or Windows Mail. (Build 18945)
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Make it easier to find your text cursor in large amounts of text.
The new text cursor indicator (available in multiple sizes and colors) will help you see and find the text cursor wherever you are at any time. (Build 18945)
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Find the files you need faster with File Explorer.
Simply click in the text entry box to get recent search terms. Starting typing and you'll get a list of recent and relevant files and folders. (Build 18945)
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE UPDATED FILE EXPLORER SEARCH EXPERIENCE
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Improved Korean typing experience.
Updates include more accurate and relevant text suggestions when using the touch keybaord. (Build 18941)
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Phone screen now available on more Surface devices.
The phone screen feature can now be previewed on the Surface Laptop, Surface Laptop 2, Surface Pro 4, Surface Pro 5, Surface Pro 6, Surface Book, and Surface Book 2. (Build 18936)
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Go passwordless with Microsoft accounts on your device.
Enabling passwordless sign in will switch all Microsoft accounts on your Windows 10 device to modern authentication with Windows Hello Face, Fingerprint, or PIN. (Build 18936)
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An easier way to create new events from the taskbar.
Open the clock and calendar flyout, pick your desired date, start typing, and you’ll now see inline options to set a time and location. (Build 18936)
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Eye control improvements.
This includes the option to mouse drag-and-drop and also features updated settings to allow you to manage more Eye Control features. (Build 18932)
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Narrator will automatically start reading webpages and emails.
Do you want to hear the most valuable content faster? Narrator now automatically starts reading webpages when they are loaded. (Build 18932)
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The magnifier works with dark theme and text sizing options.
The Magnifier window can be displayed with either light or dark themes and also provides you with scaling options. (Build 18932)
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More discoverable notifications settings.
When you receive a notification toast, there will be an inline option to turn off notifications for that app, or head to the app’s notification settings. (Build 18932)
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Your Phone app touch functionality.
Interact with your phone screen using one-touch tap and long press to conveniently open apps, select items, click on links, and more, directly on your touch-enabled PC. (Build 18932)
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Check your Language Settings at a glance.
The new overview section lets you quickly see and set which languages are selected as default for your Windows display, apps, keyboard, etc. (Build 18922)
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Find similar feedback in the Feedback Hub.
A new section in the Feedback Hub automatically checks for feedback similar to yours to help us better understand and address your problem or suggestion. (Build 18922)
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Improved performance with Windows Subsystem for Linux 2.
The new architecture delivers faster file system performance. Plus, full system call compatibility lets you run more applications like Docker. (Build 18917)
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Windows Terminal for command-line tools.
Windows Terminal is a fast, efficient terminal application for users of command-line tools and shells like Command Prompt, PowerShell, and WSL. (Build 18917)
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More control of bandwidth used by updates.
You have the option to set a specific amount of bandwidth used for Windows and app updates. (Build 18917)
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Do more with Windows Ink Workspace.
The streamlined UI includes a direct link to the Microsoft Whiteboard app - a freeform digital canvas with virtual collaboration, infinite canvas, optional backgrounds and more. (Build 18917))
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Narrator data table reading improvements.
Narrator now reads the header data first (when the headers have changed), followed by the cell data and the row/column position for that cell. (Build 18917)
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Use Narrator to read out page titles for hyperlinks.
Rather than tab through “Click me” links, you can have Narrator take the hyperlink you’re on and tell you the title of the page that its linked to. (Build 18912)
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Expanded messaging options for the Your Phone app.
Send and receive images and GIFs right from the Your Phone app and quickly reply to text messages from toast notifications without having to open the app. (Build 18908)
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New accessibility features for the Your Phone app.
Use Narrator to read your Android phone screen, interact with your apps at your preferred magnification, and more. (Build 18908)
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Sync the Your Phone app over mobile data.
Sync your photos, messages, and notifications over mobile data without having to connect your Android phone to your Wi-Fi network. (Build 18908)
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Improved Task Manager Performance tab labels.
You can see the disk type (e.g. SSD) for each disk in Task Manager’s performance tab - a convenient detail if you've got multiple disks listed. (Build 18898)
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Search history and suggested files in File Explorer.
As soon as you click the search box in File Explorer, you’ll see the dropdown list with your search history. Start typing in the search box and you'll see a list of suggested files. (Build 18894)
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Narrator web page summary.
A new command in Narrator (Narrator + S) give a convenient summary of the webpage you're on, including hyperlinks, landmarks and headings. (Build 18875)
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Get Android phone notifications on your PC.
The Your Phone app lets you see and manage all your phone notifications in one place on your PC. (Build 18875)
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Project more types of Android phones on your PC.
We have expanded phone screen support on the Your Phone app to additional phone models–OnePlus 6, OnePlus 6T, Samsung Galaxy S10e, S10, S10+, Note 8, Note 9.2 (Build 18875)
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Asian Microsoft Input Method Editor (IME) Improvements.
The new IMEs for Chinese Simplified, Chinese Tradtional and Japanese feature improved security, relaiblity and more. (Build 18875)
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Bringing SwiftKey to even more languages.
To improve the accuracy of autocorrections, shapewriting, and predictions we've expand Swiftkey's typing intelligence to 30 languages. (Build 18860)
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Better Windows Sandbox accessibility.
Improvements include microphone support plus a Shift + Alt + PrintScreen key sequence which activates the ease of access dialog for enabling high contrast mode. (Build 18855)
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Windows Sandbox support for configuration files.
These files allow users to configure some aspects of the sandbox, such as vGPU, networking and shared folders. (Build 18841)
- Go here for instructions on how to find out which Windows 10 Insider Preview build you have installed. Windows Insider Preview may be substantially modified before it’s commercially released. Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, with respect to the information provided here. Some product features and functionality may require additional hardware or software.To view Windows Insider settings, you must have administrator privileges on your PC. For PCs running early versions of Windows 10, go to Settings>Update and Security>Advanced Options>Get Insider Preview Builds.
- Phone screen is available on select Android phones* running Android 7.0 or greater (*Samsung Galaxy S8/S8+/S9/S9+/ S10e/S10/S10+; OnePlus 6/6T; Note 8/9) and requires Windows 10 Insider Preview build 18204+ on a Windows 10 PC with a Bluetooth radio that supports low energy peripheral role. To check if your PC supports this: Android phone must be on, within Bluetooth range of the PC, and connected to the same network as the PC.
