Microsoft released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.6682 (KB5065782) to the Dev Channel on September 12, 2025, and the flight brings a focused set of AI-driven productivity updates, accessibility refinements, and a broad collection of stability fixes — while also surfacing a few noteworthy regressions that Insiders should treat seriously before installing on a primary machine. (blogs.windows.com)
Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel continue to receive experimental code for the Windows 11, version 25H2 servicing stream, and Microsoft is using a controlled feature rollout model that gates many experiences server-side. This means not every Insider will see every change immediately; some features are available only to devices with specific hardware or entitlement conditions (notably Copilot+ PCs). The Dev channel’s 26220. series is Microsoft’s active testbed for these near-term enhancements and experiments. (blogs.windows.com)
Over the last several Dev flights Microsoft has emphasized small-but-impactful improvements — Click to Do* expansions, accessibility investments such as Narrator enhancements, Windows Share refinements, and incremental system fixes — rather than a single major consumer-facing redesign. That pattern is intact with Build 26220.6682: targeted feature additions plus a long list of fixes and a non-trivial set of known issues Insiders must consider. (windowscentral.com)
These changes show Microsoft doubling down on two converging goals: make AI actions more discoverable and keep the most latency-sensitive inference local to Copilot+ devices. The tradeoff is clear: Insiders without Copilot+ hardware or the toggle enabled may not see or test this functionality. External reporting and previous Dev flights confirm that Click to Do and other Copilot experiences are frequently hardware- and entitlement-gated. (theverge.com)
For Insiders who want to explore the latest Fluent AI UX and accessibility work, this build delivers meaningful, testable improvements — provided you accept the risk profile that accompanies Dev-channel preview flights. For enterprise teams and production users, the prudent path remains to monitor the Release Preview/Beta streams and wait for broader, less-gated rollouts after these features mature and known regressions are resolved. (blogs.windows.com) (windowscentral.com)
Source: Microsoft - Windows Insiders Blog Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.6682 (Dev Channel)
Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel continue to receive experimental code for the Windows 11, version 25H2 servicing stream, and Microsoft is using a controlled feature rollout model that gates many experiences server-side. This means not every Insider will see every change immediately; some features are available only to devices with specific hardware or entitlement conditions (notably Copilot+ PCs). The Dev channel’s 26220. series is Microsoft’s active testbed for these near-term enhancements and experiments. (blogs.windows.com)Over the last several Dev flights Microsoft has emphasized small-but-impactful improvements — Click to Do* expansions, accessibility investments such as Narrator enhancements, Windows Share refinements, and incremental system fixes — rather than a single major consumer-facing redesign. That pattern is intact with Build 26220.6682: targeted feature additions plus a long list of fixes and a non-trivial set of known issues Insiders must consider. (windowscentral.com)
What’s new in Build 26220.6682 — At a glance
This build’s announcements can be grouped into three practical buckets: AI/productivity, accessibility and UI polish, and stability/bug fixes. Below are the high-level bullets followed by deeper breakdowns.- Click to Do: new Copilot prompt box, gesture animations, and curated action tags (rolling out to Copilot+ PCs with toggle on). (blogs.windows.com)
- Start menu: example Copilot prompts shown in the Recommended section to drive discovery. (blogs.windows.com)
- Emoji: Emoji 16.0 glyphs added to the emoji panel. (blogs.windows.com)
- Gaming: Xbox controller changes — short press to open Game Bar, long press to open Task View; controller long-press behavior retained for power-off. (blogs.windows.com)
- Narrator: extensive improvements to voice feedback, table navigation, footnote reading, and continuous reading reliability. (blogs.windows.com)
- Settings: Advanced Settings returns with a temporary removal of long path and virtual workspaces options while Microsoft fixes issues. (blogs.windows.com)
- SCOOBE screen: a subscription reminder for Microsoft 365 payment/renewal issues. (blogs.windows.com)
- Fixes across Taskbar, File Explorer, Lock/Login, Sandbox, Search, Voice Access, Windows Hello. A targeted fix for audio stuttering in OBS (NDI + Display Capture) is included for all Dev users. (blogs.windows.com)
Deep dive: Click to Do and on-device Copilot integration
Copilot prompt box and suggested prompts
One of the headline changes in 26220.6682 is the Copilot prompt box inside Click to Do. The prompt box allows users to type a custom prompt that is sent to Copilot along with the selected screen content. Suggested prompts appear under the box and — crucially — the suggestion generation is powered locally using Microsoft’s Phi‑Silica model for supported languages (English, Spanish, French) on Copilot+ hardware. This design targets faster responses and better privacy by keeping inference on-device when hardware allows. The feature is not currently rolling out to Insiders in the EEA or China. (blogs.windows.com)These changes show Microsoft doubling down on two converging goals: make AI actions more discoverable and keep the most latency-sensitive inference local to Copilot+ devices. The tradeoff is clear: Insiders without Copilot+ hardware or the toggle enabled may not see or test this functionality. External reporting and previous Dev flights confirm that Click to Do and other Copilot experiences are frequently hardware- and entitlement-gated. (theverge.com)
Gesture polish and action tags
The build also introduces new visual animations for Click to Do gestures (right-edge swipe) and adds top action tags in the context menu to surface popular AI-powered actions. These are small usability improvements, but they reduce friction for users discovering what Click to Do can do. Expect these to be progressively enabled via the toggle for early adopters. (blogs.windows.com)Accessibility improvements: Narrator and navigation
This build delivers a comprehensive set of refinements to Narrator designed to make document navigation, table traversal, and continuous reading more reliable and less noisy.- Less jarring pitch in Natural Voices when announcing headings or grammar/spelling errors. (blogs.windows.com)
- Better footnote navigation and announcements for list and table boundaries. (blogs.windows.com)
- New quick navigation hotkeys for table traversal in Scan Mode (Beginning/End of Row/Column combinations). (blogs.windows.com)
- Improved announcements when selection spans multiple table cells and better detection for non-uniform tables. (blogs.windows.com)
Fixes and stability work
Build 26220.6682 includes a long list of fixes both in the toggle-controlled rollout and for everyone in the Dev Channel:- Taskbar & System Tray: better hide/unhide reliability, fixes for interaction issues above the taskbar. (blogs.windows.com)
- File Explorer: fixes for Shared section visibility, video thumbnail generation for certain EXIF metadata, context-menu lockups, and Open/Save dialog hangs. (blogs.windows.com)
- Lock/Login: bug that could crash the lock screen interacting with the power button has been fixed. (blogs.windows.com)
- Windows Sandbox: mitigations for high vmmemCmFirstBoot CPU consumption. (blogs.windows.com)
- Search & Settings: work to reduce stuck search states and a fix for Settings crashing when interacting with Optional Features. (blogs.windows.com)
- Voice Access: fix for error 9001 condition. (blogs.windows.com)
- Windows Hello: fixes for PIN / Entra domain issues and safe mode PIN errors. (blogs.windows.com)
- General (for everyone): addresses audio stutter in OBS Studio with NDI + Display Capture. This is notable for streamers and anyone using virtual camera/audio pipelines. (blogs.windows.com)
Known issues and cautions — what to watch for
Despite the fixes, the build lists several new and important known issues Insiders must weigh before installing:- Click to Do swipe visual may appear on the wrong display when launched from a primary display via right-edge gesture. (blogs.windows.com)
- Lock screen media controls may not show for some users. (blogs.windows.com)
- Windows Studio Effects compatibility issue: certain external webcams can fail to preview when “Use Windows Studio Effects” is enabled — caused by camera firmware incompatibilities. Microsoft’s workaround is to disable Studio Effects until a firmware/driver update is available. (blogs.windows.com)
- PIX on Windows cannot play back GPU captures on this OS version; Microsoft estimates a PIX update by end of September. (blogs.windows.com)
- A prominent audio regression affects a subset of Insiders where audio stops working and Device Manager shows yellow exclamation marks (e.g., “ACPI Audio Compositor”); Microsoft provides an in-blog manual driver-selection recovery path. (blogs.windows.com)
Cross-check: 25H2 context and deployment mechanics
Build 26220. flights are part of the 25H2 development track. Separate but related signals in the last week show Microsoft published 25H2 ISO images and continued staging for general availability, and the 25H2 package is largely being delivered as an enablement package* layered on top of 24H2. This means the functional change to move to 25H2 is lightweight for devices already on 24H2, but testing remains important for enterprises because of manageability and compatibility nuances. Independent coverage confirms ISO availability and the enablement-package approach that minimizes large rebase updates. (tomshardware.com)Critical analysis — strengths and trade-offs
Notable strengths
- Focused, user-visible AI improvements: The Copilot prompt box in Click to Do and suggested prompts are welcome additions that make AI actions more discoverable and flexible. Local inference via Phi‑Silica on Copilot+ hardware is a pragmatic architecture — it reduces latency and strengthens privacy guarantees for supported devices. (blogs.windows.com) (theverge.com)
- Real accessibility investment: The Narrator improvements represent real, measurable progress for assistive tech users. Better table navigation, continuous reading, and clearer announcements help address long-standing usability pain points. These are not superficial adjustments; they target workflows used day-to-day by people relying on screen readers. (blogs.windows.com)
- Iterative quality work: The long list of fixes for Explorer, taskbar, and subsystem issues shows Microsoft is actively triaging stability across diverse hardware combinations — the kind of housekeeping necessary for a robust release.
Trade-offs and risks
- Hardware and entitlement gating fragments testing: By restricting Copilot features to Copilot+ devices (and to toggle-on Insiders), Microsoft narrows the testing surface. That helps limit user impact but also reduces the diversity of real-world feedback early in the rollout, potentially allowing edge-case bugs to persist until a broader rollout. Community trackers have documented this pattern across prior 26220 flights.
- Regressions with real impact: The audio regression (yellow exclamation marks in Device Manager) and camera firmware compatibility with Studio Effects are operationally disruptive. These are not cosmetic regressions; they can break core functionality — audio and camera — on affected machines. Microsoft lists manual workarounds, but these require a level of technical comfort many users don’t have. (blogs.windows.com)
- Dev Channel instability: The Dev channel is intentionally experimental. Microsoft’s use of toggles and controlled rollouts helps, but the existence of bugchecks, hibernation issues, and device-specific driver regressions means Dev builds remain unsuitable for primary or enterprise production machines. Historical Dev Channel coverage reinforces this point.
Practical recommendations for Insiders and IT pros
If you plan to install Build 26220.6682, follow these practical steps to minimize disruption:- Back up: Create a full system backup or a good restore point before installing any Dev channel build.
- Use a test device: Reserve the Dev preview for secondary or test machines only; do not install on primary or production systems.
- Toggle awareness: If you want to see the new Copilot prompt box, enable Settings > Windows Update > Windows Insider Program > “Get the latest updates as soon as they are available” toggle — but note this increases exposure to staged changes and regressions. (blogs.windows.com)
- Audio recovery steps (if impacted): In Device Manager, right-click the device with a yellow exclamation mark → Update driver → Browse my computer for drivers → Let me pick from a list of available drivers → choose the most recent dated driver. Microsoft documents this workaround in the announcement. (blogs.windows.com)
- Studio Effects workaround: If an external webcam preview fails after enabling Windows Studio Effects, turn off Studio Effects in the advanced camera settings until your camera vendor supplies compatible firmware or Microsoft issues further fixes. (blogs.windows.com)
- Report feedback: Use Feedback Hub (WIN + F) to file detailed reports under the relevant category (Click to Do, Narrator, Audio, Camera), and attach repro steps and logs where possible. Microsoft collects this telemetry to prioritize fixes.
Privacy, data flow, and enterprise implications
The Click to Do integrations that call out Microsoft 365 actions (for example, pushing a captured table to Excel or surfacing Live Persona profile cards) introduce cloud roundtrips and entitlement checks. While the local Copilot prompt suggestion model (Phi‑Silica) reduces server-side inference for prompts, actions that touch Microsoft 365 tenant data or push content to cloud-hosted applications will involve network calls and authentication. For enterprises, this raises two important considerations:- Access controls and data governance: Ensure that Copilot-connected workflows comply with corporate data-handling policies and that Entra / Microsoft 365 sign-in requirements are validated before enabling features for enterprise users. (blogs.windows.com)
- Hardware procurement: Several advanced Copilot experiences are gated to Copilot+ PCs with NPUs. Enterprises evaluating Copilot-dependent productivity tooling must account for these hardware prerequisites in procurement and pilot planning. Independent reporting has highlighted the hardware gating approach repeatedly across recent Dev builds. (theverge.com)
How this fits into Microsoft’s wider 25H2 strategy
25H2 is shaping up as an enablement-style update: the bulk of the OS remains stable while Microsoft layers on incremental capabilities, manageability updates, and Copilot ecosystem integrations. The company is managing feature exposure through toggles and targeted hardware gates so that features can be iterated rapidly without exposing all users to experimental behavior at once. This allows Microsoft to move faster on AI-driven experiences while limiting blast radius. Independent outlets and community trackers have documented the enablement-package approach and the staggered rollout methodology. (tomshardware.com)Conclusion
Build 26220.6682 is an exemplar of the current Windows Insider approach: incremental, AI-forward, and accessibility-conscious, but still experimental and sometimes brittle. The Copilot prompt box and Click to Do enhancements make on-screen AI actions more discoverable and practical, while Narrator refinements deliver real accessibility wins. However, the presence of disruptive regressions — notably the audio driver issue and select camera firmware incompatibilities — reinforces the long-standing advice: keep Dev Channel builds off primary machines and use test devices and conservative deployment plans for evaluation.For Insiders who want to explore the latest Fluent AI UX and accessibility work, this build delivers meaningful, testable improvements — provided you accept the risk profile that accompanies Dev-channel preview flights. For enterprise teams and production users, the prudent path remains to monitor the Release Preview/Beta streams and wait for broader, less-gated rollouts after these features mature and known regressions are resolved. (blogs.windows.com) (windowscentral.com)
Source: Microsoft - Windows Insiders Blog Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.6682 (Dev Channel)