Microsoft’s Windows Insider program continues to split work across parallel development tracks, and the Dev Channel now reflects active development for the next servicing stream. With this flight Microsoft incremented the major build identifier to Build 26220 for Dev‑channel flights, a divergence from the 26200 series used earlier in August; the company says this higher major build number will be used only for Dev Channel builds. This flight focuses on incremental but meaningful user-facing features — particularly new Click to Do text and Microsoft 365 integrations — plus accessibility additions (a Braille viewer) and share/find improvements in the Windows share window. The update is delivered via the standard Insider rollup mechanism and, as with recent flights, many experiences are being pushed via Controlled Feature Rollout (toggle-gated) so not every Insider will see all changes immediately. Microsoft’s documentation for the Dev Channel flights and the earlier August flights shows the same phased approach and the repeated use of toggles to accelerate or slow rollouts.
Note: there is a small discrepancy in public tracking tables vs. Microsoft’s blog copy that merits attention — some third‑party build lists record the Aug 29 Dev flight under a different KB identifier than the one shown in Microsoft’s post. In practice, trust Microsoft’s official flight announcement for the canonical KB and build mapping; if you need absolute parity for enterprise tracking, verify the KB shown in Windows Update / Flight Hub on your device before mass deployment. (blogs.windows.com, en.wikipedia.org)
What’s new in Build 26220.5770 (high level)
Microsoft packaged the notable new items in this flight into a few visible buckets: Click to Do text actions, accessibility improvements, share/search refinements, and a host of targeted fixes and known issues. Key, user‑visible additions include:- Convert to table with Excel — a Click to Do text action that recognizes simple tables on screen and exports them to Excel, or copies/shares the content without manual retyping. This requires the latest Microsoft Excel and a Microsoft 365 subscription; early preview access is gated to Copilot+ PCs on Snapdragon now, with Intel/AMD Copilot+ support “coming soon.”
- Microsoft 365 profile cards in Click to Do — click on an email detected by Click to Do to surface a Live Persona / Microsoft 365 profile card (work/school accounts only, requires Entra ID/Microsoft 365 sign‑in).
- Braille viewer in Narrator — an on‑screen Braille and textual representation window that mirrors refreshable Braille displays for sighted teachers, AT trainers, and testers. The viewer updates live while Narrator runs.
- Find Apps in Windows Share — search for apps installed locally or available in the Microsoft Store directly from the Windows share window.
For context, these feature types continue the recent pattern Microsoft has used in August — small but high‑impact productivity and accessibility lifts, expanded Copilot/Copilot+ functionality, and staged rollouts that prioritize telemetry and feedback before broad delivery. Independent coverage and flight trackers from the last two weeks show the same pattern across Dev and Beta channels. (blogs.windows.com, windowscentral.com)
Deep dive: Click to Do – Convert to table, M365 cards, and the composable assistant model
What Convert to table does — and how it’s gated
Convert to table with Excel is a pragmatic productivity addition: Click to Do detects simple tabular structures in screenshots or on‑screen content and offers a “Convert to table with Excel” action. The goal is to eliminate tedious manual transcription from meeting screenshots, whiteboard photos, or static lists embedded in documents.- Benefits:
- Fast capture-to-Excel workflow for meetings, receipts, schedules, and simple data grids.
- Reduce transcription errors and save time for analysts, students, and knowledge workers.
- Requirements and limits:
- The feature requires the latest Microsoft Excel app and an active Microsoft 365 subscription.
- Microsoft is gating early access to Copilot+ Snapdragon PCs first; support for AMD/Intel Copilot+ machines is planned soon. Expect detection quality to improve over time; Microsoft explicitly says table detection is in early preview and will be refined in subsequent flights.
M365 Profile Cards inside Click to Do
Click to Do’s ability to show Microsoft 365 Live Persona cards when you invoke it on an email is a subtle but useful change for enterprise productivity. Rather than switching to Outlook or Teams, you can get contact info, recent collaboration context, and actions (call, message, open chat) inline.- Important caveats:
- Requires sign in with a work/school account (Entra ID) and Microsoft 365.
- Not currently available to Insiders in the European Economic Area (EEA) while Microsoft works through regional considerations.
Why this matters
These additions signal Microsoft doubling down on Click to Do as a lightweight, on‑screen assistant that connects surface-level capture (what you see) with deeper productivity primitives (Excel, M365 profile data). For knowledge workers and hybrid teams this shortens the loop from observation to action — a core productivity lever.Cross‑validation: Microsoft’s blog post for this flight documents Convert to table and M365 card integration; build trackers and independent coverage of the August preview cadence show the company’s continued focus on Click to Do across multiple recent flights. (blogs.windows.com, windowscentral.com)
Accessibility: Braille viewer and Narrator improvements
This flight’s Braille viewer is one of the larger accessibility investments in a single Insider build in months. The viewer mirrors Braille output from a connected refreshable Braille device into an on‑screen textual and Braille representation, which helps sighted teachers, AT evaluators, and developers test and follow activity without needing to read Braille.- How to use:
- Launch Narrator (Win + Ctrl + Enter), then use the Narrator key + Alt + B to open the Braille viewer; the window updates continuously and supports varying cell counts.
- Why it matters:
- Improves collaboration and testing for accessibility trainers.
- Lowers barriers for non‑Braille‑readers to validate student workflows or to learn Braille structure visually.
Windows Share: find apps & share improvements
The Windows share window gets a “Find Apps” field that can search installed apps and show Store suggestions without leaving the share surface. This reduces friction when sharing links or content to an app you don’t remember exactly where to find.- Practical benefit: faster sharing workflow and fewer context switches when trying to route content to less‑used apps.
- Broader trend: this change is consistent with other small ergonomics wins in the August flights (pinning favorite Share apps, simplified Windows share UX) that compound into more fluid daily interactions. (blogs.windows.com, windowscentral.com)
Fixes and known issues — what to watch for
Notable fixes in this build
- Taskbar & System Tray: fixes for date/time flyout opening on the wrong monitor and hover thumbnail duplicate previews.
- Windowing: an ALT + Tab explorer.exe crash in earlier flights is fixed.
- Display: HDR enablement bug (where HDR would flip off) has been addressed for affected Insiders.
Known issues you may encounter
- Audio driver problem: some Insiders in Dev/Beta are reporting audio stops after the flight, and Device Manager shows yellow exclamation marks (example: “ACPI Audio Compositor”); Microsoft published a recovery procedure involving updating drivers manually from Device Manager. If you’re impacted, follow Microsoft’s guidance in the announcement.
- Xbox controller via Bluetooth: some configurations cause bugchecks (blue screens) when using controllers over Bluetooth. Microsoft posted an uninstall‑driver workaround for the affected OEM driver entry to regain stability.
- File Explorer / Settings quirks: shared items in File Explorer Home may appear even when empty; Settings > System > Storage > Temporary files scanning can get stuck. Microsoft is investigating both.
Cross‑channel and historical context
This flight continues the Dev/Beta divergence that Microsoft has used since the mid‑2025 development cycle: Dev Channel gets the active 25H2 work (now labeled 26220.xxxx), while Beta Channel still maps to the 24H2 track (26120.xxxx). Earlier August flights (for example, Build 26200.5761 and 26200.5751) introduced Click to Do selection refinements, Snipping Tool window‑mode recording, and cross‑device resume experiments (Spotify handoff) that set the stage for this flight’s Click to Do extensions. (blogs.windows.com, windowscentral.com)If you’re tracking feature exposure across channels, keep the Dev toggle in Settings > Windows Update > Windows Insider Program in mind. Microsoft uses a Controlled Feature Rollout model that toggles features on server side for subsets of devices; turning on the “get latest features as they are available” toggle increases your odds of seeing staged changes earlier, but it also increases exposure to early regressions.
Risks, enterprise considerations, and privacy implications
Enterprise compatibility and testing
- Dev Channel builds are experimental and may change or be removed. IT professionals should not use Dev builds for production devices. Test in lab environments and use dedicated validation devices for compatibility assessments.
- Some Copilot/Copilot+ features rely on hardware NPUs or partner licensing; enterprise procurement workflows must account for hardware and license prerequisites when evaluating Copilot‑dependent features.
Privacy: on‑device generative actions and Microsoft 365 integration
- Click to Do’s data capture is surface‑level (you explicitly select content), but integration with Microsoft 365 (profile cards, send to Excel) introduces telemetry and cloud callouts for productivity actions. Organizations with strong data residency or compliance requirements should review how Click to Do actions interact with cloud services and consult their Microsoft 365 tenant policies before widespread use. Microsoft has added dedicated Settings pages in recent flights to show which third‑party apps accessed on‑device generative models; remain mindful of those controls and policy settings.
Staged rollouts and false confidence
- Controlled Feature Rollouts can create an illusion that a feature is “already fixed” because a particular Insider sees it, while others on the same build do not. Use telemetry sampling and cohort testing in enterprise pilots to avoid premature rollouts. The phased model is intentional — it helps Microsoft collect feedback and limit blast radius — but also requires patience.
Practical guidance: how Insiders and IT should approach this flight
- For hobbyists and power users:
- Install on a secondary machine or VM to try Convert to table and Braille viewer.
- If you want earlier exposure to staged features, enable the toggle in Settings > Windows Update to "Get the latest updates as they are available." Be prepared to report feedback via Feedback Hub.
- For IT pros and testers:
- Treat Dev Channel builds as experimental; do not run them on user endpoints or domain controllers.
- Validate device drivers (audio, Bluetooth, GPU) in lab before rolling builds into broader pilot rings.
- If you plan to evaluate Click to Do’s M365 integrations, confirm licensing requirements (Microsoft 365 subscription and Entra sign‑in) and check any conditional access policies that might block expected behavior.
- Steps to evaluate Convert to table quickly:
- Install Build 26220.5770 on a test machine and ensure you have Excel and an M365 subscription.
- Capture a simple table on screen and invoke Click to Do (Win + Click, Win + Q, or right‑swipe on touch).
- Select the table region; choose Convert to table with Excel and confirm the data arrives in Excel as expected.
- File feedback in Feedback Hub under Desktop Environment > Click to Do for detection issues.
- If you hit one of the known audio or Xbox controller problems:
- Follow the Microsoft guidance published in the announcement for driver rollbacks or manual Device Manager driver updates. Back up your device and create a system restore point before experimenting with drivers.
Verification and cross‑checks
Key claims in this article were verified against Microsoft’s official Windows Insider announcement for Build 26220.5770 (the August 29 blog post) and cross‑checked with independent trackers and coverage for the latest Dev/Beta flights. Microsoft’s blog post is the authoritative source of the build’s feature list and known issues. Third‑party tracking pages and tech outlets covering the August preview cadence corroborate the general pattern of Click to Do expansion and the staged rollout model seen across late August flights. Readers should prefer Microsoft’s flight announcement for exact KB identifiers and to follow links to Flight Hub for channel mappings. (blogs.windows.com, en.wikipedia.org, windowscentral.com)A small inconsistency observed in public trackers versus Microsoft’s blog concerns KB labeling for the Aug 29 Dev flight in some aggregator tables; the official Windows Insider blog entry should be considered the final authoritative record for KB and build mapping until Flight Hub/Windows Update shows the package on your device. (blogs.windows.com, en.wikipedia.org)
Final analysis — strengths, tradeoffs, and what to expect next
Build 26220.5770 is a textbook example of modern OS iteration: targeted, user‑centric improvements delivered quickly with careful gating. The real strengths:- Productivity-first additions: Convert to table and M365 card integration meaningfully shorten the path from observation to structured work.
- Accessibility investment: The Braille viewer is a concrete win for teachers, trainers, and accessibility testing workflows.
- Polish and iteration: Small Windows Share and UX improvements compound into daily friction reduction.
- Hardware and license gating: Advanced capabilities are tied to Copilot+ hardware and Microsoft 365 licensing; expect uneven availability and additional procurement complexity.
- Staged rollouts increase variability: Not all Insiders will see the same experiences; this makes public reporting and community troubleshooting noisier.
- Driver/compatibility risk: The audio and controller issues are a reminder that preview build stability can be hardware‑driver dependent. Maintain conservative upgrade policies for production gear.
Conclusion
Build 26220.5770 continues Microsoft’s August pattern of rolling out refined productivity and accessibility improvements while relying on controlled rollouts to balance innovation and stability. For Insiders, this flight is worth trying on secondary hardware to evaluate Click to Do’s Convert to table with Excel and the new Braille viewer. For IT and enterprise teams, the update is a reminder to validate drivers and licensing conditions before any wider pilot. Keep an eye on Microsoft’s Flight Hub and the Windows Insider announcement for live KB mappings and step‑by‑step remediation guidance. (blogs.windows.com, en.wikipedia.org, windowscentral.com)
Source: Microsoft - Windows Insiders Blog Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.5770 (Dev Channel)
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