What changed in Build 26340.9882
Microsoft's official release notes for Windows 11 Insider Experimental Preview Build 26340.9882, dated November 6, 2026, describe the Windows Hello change in a few lines. You no longer have to wait for face or fingerprint recognition to finish before entering your PIN. Use whichever method works first.
That doesn't mean the PIN is now optional or that biometrics are going away. Microsoft says that at certain times, such as after a restart, you'll need your PIN first. After that, biometrics work as usual.
Microsoft's own Learn release notes also settle a version question. Updates are based on Windows 11, version 26H2 via an enablement package (Build 26340.9882). Microsoft lists the Hello work under changes and improvements that are being rolled out gradually. Even Insiders who install the build may not see it right away.
In brief:
- You can now type your PIN while face or fingerprint recognition is still running.
- Windows still asks for the PIN first after a restart.
- The build is Experimental-channel only and is based on Windows 11 version 26H2.
- Microsoft hasn't announced when it will reach regular Windows 11 PCs.
What the new sign-in screen looks like
Abhijith M B at Windows Latest tested the build on a Lenovo laptop with an IR camera. Before the update, his laptop asked him to look at the camera every time he was in a dim room. If Windows Hello couldn't recognize him, it eventually switched to a PIN prompt. If he already knew the camera would fail, he had to open Sign-in options and pick the PIN icon himself. That is two extra clicks every time you sign in, which wears thin when you open your laptop in a dark bedroom every morning.
After installing Build 26340.9882, the lock screen says "Look at the camera or enter your PIN," and the PIN field is ready while the camera is still scanning. Windows Latest also reported:
- No tweaks needed: the new screen appeared as soon as the build was installed, without ViVeTool or registry changes. That was on one device, so don't expect every PC to get it immediately.
- Restart behavior: after a reboot, Windows showed a message saying the PIN is required after a device restart. Face and fingerprint sign-in then worked normally.
- A faster retry: if face recognition fails, the screen now shows a "Retry face sign-in" option, so you no longer have to go back through Sign-in options.
- PCs with both sensors: on devices with a fingerprint reader and an IR camera, Microsoft's screenshot shows a prompt to look at the camera or scan a fingerprint, with the PIN box just below.
Microsoft's release notes describe that screenshot as showing the Windows Hello sign-in screen with face, fingerprint, and PIN options available together. The other on-screen wording above comes from Windows Latest's testing. Microsoft's notes don't list those exact strings.
Why is this a big deal? Biometrics are great until they aren't. Dim rooms, wet fingers, smudged sensors, or a family member who knows the PIN but isn't the enrolled face all used to trigger the same pattern: wait for a timeout, then click around. Phones have let you skip that for years. NTCompatible's coverage made the same comparison, saying sign-in now behaves more like a phone: you can use whichever method fires first, face, fingerprint, or PIN, without waiting for one scan to finish before entering another.
New Windows Hello events for IT admins
Windows Latest also reported a logging change in the same build, and Microsoft's Learn release notes confirm it. According to Microsoft, new Windows Hello events let IT admins see how users sign in. The sign-in experience doesn't change.
| Event ID | Where it appears | What it records |
|---|---|---|
| 4628 | Event Viewer > Windows Logs > Security | The Windows Hello methods a user has set up and which method they used to sign in (PIN, face, fingerprint, or no Windows Hello) |
| 4629 | Event Viewer > Windows Logs > Security | Failed Windows Hello sign-in attempts |
| 5010, 7010 | Event Viewer > Applications and Services Logs > Microsoft > Windows > HelloForBusiness > Operational | Each Windows Hello sign-in and unlock, along with the result |
Microsoft notes that both events use the existing Audit Logon policy. If your organization already audits logons, the two Security-log events should show up without a new policy. If logon auditing is turned off, you won't see them. The 5010 and 7010 events in the Hello for Business Operational log are meant for troubleshooting.
What admins can do with this (our analysis):
- Measure adoption. Event 4628 shows which methods users enrolled and which one they actually use. That helps answer how many people bought IR-camera laptops and still type a PIN every morning.
- Alert on failures. Repeated 4629 events on one machine could mean a dirty sensor, a broken camera driver, or someone trying to get in who shouldn't.
- Troubleshoot help-desk tickets. The Operational log events record each sign-in and unlock with its result. That's more useful than a user saying "face sign-in is broken again."
A caution: this is Insider-build behavior. Don't build production detection rules around these event IDs until they appear in a release that ships to regular PCs. Also, Microsoft's existing Hello for Business troubleshooting guidance uses other event IDs in the same Operational log for other problems. For example, its article on cloud trust sign-in failures on captive-portal Wi-Fi uses event 7001. The new events add to the existing ones rather than replacing them.
A separate fix: brightening the screen in low light
There's history behind all this. With April 2025's KB5055523 for Windows 11 version 24H2, Microsoft changed facial recognition so that, for added security, the color camera must see a visible face at sign-in. Microsoft tied the change to CVE-2025-26644. Its notes warned that if face sign-in fails in low light or with a covered camera lens, that is intended behavior, not a bug. Windows Latest says the change broke Windows Hello for many people with privacy shutters, including on its own HP Spectre.
Microsoft's answer to that problem is a separate feature, and it is not part of Build 26340.9882. Experimental Build 26340.9750, released October 16, added a setting under Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options > Facial recognition (Windows Hello) called "Automatically adjust screen brightness during face recognition." Microsoft's support article says Windows raises the brightness only when the IR camera can see your face but the color camera doesn't have enough light. Brightness goes back to its previous level once sign-in finishes. Microsoft has since made the setting off by default and pulled it temporarily after customer feedback. The company says it is scheduled to return starting November 2026.
The two features fit together. Screen brightening may make face recognition work more often in the dark, and concurrent PIN entry means you lose almost nothing when it doesn't.
Windows Latest's author also described a personal workaround: disabling the laptop's RGB camera in Device Manager, after which Windows Hello signed him in using only the IR camera, even in the dark. He doesn't recommend it for everyone, and neither do we. It goes against the security check Microsoft added deliberately, you lose the webcam for video calls until you turn it back on, and some Windows Latest readers said it didn't work on their PCs.
How to try it, and should you?
According to Windows Latest, you can join through Settings > Windows Update > Windows Insider Program: link a Microsoft account, choose the Experimental channel, and check for updates. Before you do:
- Expect a gradual rollout. Installing the build doesn't guarantee you'll see the new sign-in screen right away.
- Expect bugs. Windows Latest reports that Task Manager's CPU speed reading doesn't update in this build. That's the outlet's own observation; Microsoft hasn't listed it as a known issue.
- Use a test machine. Install it on a VM or a spare PC, or at least back up your files first.
Bottom line
Being able to type your PIN while Windows Hello is still scanning is a small change you'll notice every time you open your laptop. Paired with the restart-time PIN requirement, it saves the extra clicks without loosening security. The new 4628 and 4629 Security events, confirmed in Microsoft's own release notes, show that Microsoft is also thinking about the people who have to support Windows Hello across many PCs. What's still missing is a date for regular Windows 11 users. Until Microsoft gives one, both changes are Experimental-channel only.