Windows 11 Insider Preview 26220.7653: WinUI 3 dialogs and instant Copilot prompts

Microsoft has pushed Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.7653 (KB5074157) into the Dev Channel — the same 25H2 enablement-package build Microsoft previously published to Beta — and with it shipped a modest set of visible polish, Copilot-era experience tweaks, and a broad collection of reliability fixes while keeping a handful of known issues active for testers and IT professionals to validate. 123971[/ATTACH]Background / Overview[/HEADING]
Windows 11’s 25H2 development stream continues to be delivered as a family of enablement-package builds in the 26220.xxxx series. Rather than a single monolithic feature release, Microsoft has moved to an enablement‑package model: the underlying platform binaries are broadly distributed and features are turned on by server-side flags, entitlements, hardware checks, and controlled feature rollouts. That means installing the same KB on two otherwise identical devices can produce different visible behavior depending on account type, region, hardware has the “Get the latest updates as they are available” toggle enabled in Settings > Windows Update. For a short window Microsoft has intentionally offered the same 26220.7653 package to both the Dev and Beta Channels, which cratees a one‑time opportunity for Dev‑channel Insiders who want to preview stream to move to Beta without performing a clean reinstall. Microsoft warns this window will close once Dev advances to a higher build number; after that, switching between channels may require more drastic steps.

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What Microsoft says is new in Build 26220.7653 (KB5074157)​

The official release notes split updates into two buckets: items being rolled out gradually to Insiders who have turned the “get the latest updates” toggle on, and items rolling out more broadly to everyone in the Dev Channel. The most visible, user-facing changes called out are:
-* dialogs under Settings > Accounts > Other users, rebuilt using WinUI 3 and updated to respect Light/Dark theme modes. This replaces legacy dialog fragments with a more consistent, theme-aware UI.

• Click to Do improvements: Copilot prompt suggestions now load instantly on eligible on- and entitlement-gated; EEA and China excluded from the initial rollout). This is intended to reduce latency for small on-device model prompts and improve the Click to Do flow.
• .webp wallpaper support: you can now selecting > Personalization > Desktop Background without converting them first. This brings Windows desktop personalization in line with modern web image formats.

In addition to these headline items, Microsoft lists a long set of fixes addressing Start menu memory leaks, taskbar autohide behavior, Settings crashes related to audio device interactions, Bluetooth battery reporting, and several smaller UI/UX regressions. Known issues are also documented — notably secondary-monitor bla number of Insiders, quirks with the Xbox full screen experience (FSE) on PC, and intermittent system-tray app visibility problems.

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Deep dive: the key changes and why they matter​

WinUI modernization of Account dialogs​

What changed

• Dialogs in Settings > Accounts > Other users such as Add account and Change account type were rebuilt using WinUI 3 and nk Mode. The redesign updates spacing, typography, and control patterns to align with the rest of modern Settings.

Why it matters

• Visual consistency: Replacing legacy UI fragments removes the jarring “bright on dark” popups that occasionally appeared, improving perceived polish.
• Accessibility parity: Modern WinUI controls generally have more predictable keyboard and screen‑reader behavior; this can reduce friction for assistive technologies (though independent validation is still required).
• Enterprise automation impact: Tools or scripts that interact with UI elements by window class name, control hierarchy, or exact titles may break and will require retesting. IT te RPA, UI automation test suites, and deployment scripts before rolling this preview broadly.

Click to Do: instant Copilot prompt suggestions on Copilot+ devices​

What changed

• On eligible Copilot+ hardware the Copilot prompt suggestions that appear in the Click to Do overlay now load instantly, cutting latency for ft notes this is staged and excluded from the EEA and China initially.

Why it matters

• Perceived responsiveness: For short, context-driven prompts, instant suggestions materially improve the user experience and make Copilot feel like a first-class, low-latency tool on-device.
• Hardware and entitlement gating: Because the behavior is gated by Copilot+ hardware and regional licensing, the experience is not uniform accal detail for testers and admins to understand.

Caveats

• The term “instant” is qualitative and can vary by CPU, NPU/ML accelerator availability, local model size, and network fallback behavior. Enterprises should treat Click to Do/Copilot interactions as changes to their data/telemetry map and validate DLP/telemre enabling in production.

.webp wallpaper support​

What changed

• Windows Settings now accepts .webp files as desktop backgrounds. This reduces the need to convert web images and allows smaller, ers.

Practical impact

• Lower disk usage for wallpaper distribution at scale, simpler workflows for users who source images from the web, and a small win in modernizing Windows’ media compatibility.

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Bug fixes and reliability work​

This build includes targeted fixes across shell surfaces and system components. Notable items being rolled out include:

• Taskbar and System Tray: fixed an autohide invocation issue that caused the taskbar to pop up prematurely when interacting with the bottom of the screen; ongoing investigations into apps not appearing in the system tray for some Insiders remain active a memory leak tied to opening Start, corrected behavior where Start opened on the wrong side for RTL languages when icons aren’t centered, and fixed touch panning that dismissed Start.
• Settings: interacting with audio devices and corrected a keyboard character repeat delay direction mismatch in the Bluetooth & Devices > Keyboard page.
• Bluetooth: restored battery level reat had stopped showing it after recent builds.
• Other system fixes: addressed clipped text in msinfo32 at ppinstaller click-to-install failures producing invalid argument errors for MSIX packages in some cases, and corrected Notepad underscore rendering for certain fonts at 125% scaling.

These fixes are practical and incremental: they don’t introduce sweeping featuresing annoyances that directly affect daily productivity for testers and enthusiasts.

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Known issues you should weigh before installing​

Microsoft explicitly calls out several known issues that remain active in this preview flight:

• Xbox Full Screen Experience (FSE): some apps and games may behave unexpectedly (particularly titles that assume a fixed size or launch child windows). Microsoft is continuing validation.
• Taskbar & System Tray: intermittent cases where apps don’t show in the system tray as expected. This issues and user workflows that rely on tray icons.
• Display & Graphics (new in this flight): a small number of Insiders report secondary monitors failing to display or showing e update. Microsoft says a fix is in progress. This is a high‑impact concern for multi‑monitor users and needs validation in pilot rings.
• Click to Do fallback behavior: the Microsoft 365 Copilot prompt on selected images may not function if the Microsoft 365 Copilot app is not running underline the typical trade-offs of Insider preview builds: you get early access to new UX and Copilot integrations, but risk encountering regressionst daily work, especially on multi‑monitor setups or when relying on tray-based utilities.

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Independent verificationation and context​

Two points that often cause confusion with Insider builds are the enablement-package delivery model and the controlled feature rollout practice. Independent coverage and Microsoft’s own Insider posts confirm both:

• The enablement-package pattern — delivering platform binaries broadly and flipping features on via a small enablement package — has been Microsoft’s standard approach for the 25H2 preview stream and earlier enablement-style updates, and it’s the reason identical KBs can yield different visible behavior across devices.
• Microsoft’s practice of staging features with Controlled Feature Rollout (CFR) and gating experiences by hardware, region, or entitlement explains the Copilot+ and EEA/China exceptions in this flight.

Where claims are less verifiable

• The release notes’ operational claim that Copilot prompt suggestions “load instantly” is a user-perceived metric and depends on hardware, local model configuration, and network fallback. Because latency depends on runtime conditions that vary by device, this “instant” claim should be treated as qualitative until validated on your hardware. If you require hopilot interactions, run side-by-side benchmarks on target hardware.

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Critical analysis — strengths, risks, and enterprise impact​

Strengths and positive direction​

• Incremental modernizations like the WinUI account dialogs and consistent theme handling are low-risk improvements that improve day-to-day polish and accessibility.
• On-device Copilot responsiveness improvements (on supported hardware) align with Microsoft’s push to make AI feel immediate and local where silicon allows, reducing cloud-dependency for small prompts and improving privacy posture for some scenarios.
• .webp support is a small but tangible win for media compatibility and storage efficiency, especially for users who manage wallpaper assets or distribute branding images at scale.
• The fixes addressing Start menu memory leaks, Settings crashes, and Bluetooth battery reporting resolve regression vectors that have caused annoyance for testers in recent flights.

Risks, caveats, and operational concerns​

• Fragmented experiences: Controlled Feature Rollout + entitlement gating means two identical devices can behave differently. For helpdesks, RPA, and QA teams this fragmentation raises the bar for reproducible test cases and complicates troubleshooting. Expdevice behavior during the 25H2 preview period.
• Multi‑monitor stability: the documented secondary-monitor black-screen issue creates a serious production risk for multi-monitor users and creators. This alone should disqualify broad deployment of this build in il the issue is resolved.
• Tray and background app regressions: missing system-tray icons disrupt many enterprise workflows (VPN agents, remote management clients, cloud storage sync apps). If your organization depends on tray-based agents, test thoroughly before adopting this build ouot.
• Copilot privacy and telemetry complexity: even when Copilot runs locally, flows may still fall back to cloud services for heavier tasks. Enterprises must consider DLP, telemetry, and external network flows when validating Copilot-enabled features. Treat Copilot surfaces as changes to data flows, not merely UI improvemenl guidance: how Insiders and IT should approach this build
• Prioritize pilot devices: test this build on a small set of representative machines that mirror your organization’s hardware, display configurations (single vs multi‑monitor), and background agents.
• Backup and snapshot first: create full system images or recovery snapshots before upgrading. Enable restore points and ensure recovery media are available.
• Validate multi‑monitor and tray workflows immediately: focus testing effort on employees who rely on multiple displays, gaming/graphics apps (Xbox FSE), and background utilities that surface in the system tray.
• Re-run automation and RPA: any test automation or UI automation that touches Settings > Accounts flows or uses window class names should be revalidated and adjusted if necessary.
• Confirm Copilot telemetry posture: run Copilot scenarios behind a controlled network boundary if you must audit external calls; document whether processing is local or cloud-based during your tests.
• Check the channel-switch window: if you’re on Dev and prefer Beta stability while both channels are using the same 25H2 build, consider switching now — Microsoft has warned the window to cross from Dev to Beta is temporary and will close once Dev advances. Verify on-device build metadata with winver or Settings > System > About to confirm build/KB.

Quick steps to vPC:

• Open Settings → System → About or run winver and confirm “Build 26220.7653” and KB5074157 are listed.

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Recommendations for specific athusiasts / Insiders who want early access: enable Settings > Windows Update > Get the latest updates as they are available to maximize your chance of seeing the gradual rollouts, but accept the risk of intermittent regressions. Keep test machines or spare hardware for flights.​

• IT admins / pilot program leads: run a staged pilot with a including multi-monitor users) and revalidate all automation. Block this build on broad production rings until the secondary-monitor and system-tray issues are resolved.
• Developers and app vendors: test apps that integrate with tray icons, consume Start menu APIs, or automate Settings UI. Expect UI element changes in Account dialogs; update selectors and automation scripts accordingly.
• Accessibility teams: validate Narrator and screen-reader behavior against the new WinUI dialog implementations; file localization and accessibility bugs as you encounter them.

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Final verdict​

Build 26220.7653 (KB5074157) is a pragmatic, incremental update: it continues Microsoft’s steady modernization of Windows shell surfaces with WinUI parity, improves Copilot responsiveness on supported hardware, and adds practical conveniences like .webp wallpaper support. The corrective work on Start menu memory leaks and Settings crashes is welcome and improves daily reliability for Insiders.
However, the release also highlights the operational complexity of Microsoft’s current rollout model. Controlled Feature Rollout plus hardware and regional gating fragment the experience, and a set of active known issues — most critically multi‑monitor black screens and intermittent system‑tray visibility — make this build unsuitable for broad production deployment today. For enthusiasts and testers, this flight offers meaningful polish and a chance to validate Copilot-era workflows; for enterprise adopters, the prudent course is measured piloting, focused validation, and delaying broader rollouts until the known display and tray regressions are resolved.
This release is a useful checkpoint in Windows 11’s 25H2 evolution: small, user-facing refinements and substantial reliability cleanup packaged inside an enablement-style update — but not yet a universal green light for production.

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If you installed the build on a test device, confirm Build 26220.7653 and KB5074157 in Settings → System → About or with winver before proceeding with targeted validation and feedback sFeedback Hub.

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Source: Microsoft - Windows Insiders Blog [url="https://blogs.windows.com/windows-insider/2026/01/21/announcing-windows-11-insider-preview-build-26220-7653-dev-channel/"]Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.7653 (Dev Channel)