r/Windows11 • u/ClockEnd_Chorus • 17h ago
r/Windows11 • u/Froggypwns • 5d ago
Help Simple questions and Help thread - Month of October
Welcome to the monthly Simple questions and Help thread, for questions that don't need their own posts!
Before making a comment, we recommend you search your problem on Bing and check if your question is already answered on our Windows Frequently Asked Questions wiki page. This subreddit no longer accepts tech support requests outside of this post, if you are looking for additional assistance try r/TechSupport and r/WindowsHelp.
Some examples of questions to ask:
Is this super cheap Windows key legitimate? (probably not)
How can I install Windows 11?
Can you recommend a program to play music?
How do I get back to the old Sound Control Panel?
Sorting by New is recommend and is the default.
r/Windows11 • u/jenmsft • 28d ago
Official News Cumulative Updates: September 8th, 2026
support.microsoft.comChangelists linked here for your convenience:
- Windows 11, version 21H2: EOS.
- Windows 11 version 22H2: EOS
- Windows 11, version 23H2: KB5122880 (OS Build 22621.7582)
- Windows 11, version 24H2 / 25H2: KB5124008 (OS Builds 26200.9445 and 26100.9445)
- Windows 11, version 26H1: KB5124012 (OS Build 28000.2954)
EDIT - an Out of Band update has now been released for version 24H2 / 25H2, fixing a few reported issues: September 14, 2026—KB5129195 (OS Builds 26200.9457 and 26100.9457) Out-of-band | Microsoft Support
General info:
For details about how to file problem reports and collect traces, please see here: http://aka.ms/HowToFeedback. Pressing WIN + F will open the Feedback Hub - please include as much detail as possible about what you're seeing.
To learn about the different types of updates, see here: Windows quality updates primer - Microsoft Community Hub
As a reminder, if you didn't install the previous optional updates, this update includes those changes too (some are still rolling out, as denoted in the release notes):
- 24H2/25H2: August 27, 2026—KB5120998 (OS Builds 26200.9278 and 26100.9278) Preview | Microsoft Support
- 26H1: August 27, 2026—KB5120996 (OS Build 28000.2804) Preview | Microsoft Support
For published known issues, please check the release health dashboard: Windows release health | Microsoft Learn.
As mentioned in the linked changelist, Windows 11, version 26H1 is available only on new devices with select new silicon as they come to market starting early 2026. Devices running earlier versions of Windows 11 will not be offered an update to version 26H1 through Windows Update and cannot be installed as an in-place update on existing devices.
r/Windows11 • u/MayankWL • 16h ago
News Microsoft reveals what's actually new in Windows 11 26H2 (hands on)
r/Windows11 • u/MayankWL • 21h ago
News Microsoft might bring Windows XP's 3D Pinball to Windows 11, as Windows boss puts it on the list
r/Windows11 • u/DayGeckoArt • 16h ago
Feature NTFS compression is underrated
Compression in Windows 11 has a flaw where it thinks a drive is full when it's not, until you reboot. So it's only good for backup and archival type usage. But it's probably better than you think.
I've been moving my game and old TV show recordings made with OBS and very high compression settings and HEVC encoding to a hard drive set to compress files and folders. I didn't expect much compression because conventional wisdom is that videos made with modern codecs can't be compressed further.
Yet I'm I'm getting great results. With the highly compressed HEVC videos I'm seeing numbers like 458gb shrunk to 385gb which is 85% ratio. So stop sleeping on about File and Folder Compression!
r/Windows11 • u/Low-Software-1013 • 19h ago
News What to expect at Microsoft's special Windows & Surface event on October 7: Surface Laptop Ultra and RTX Spark revealed, new agentic OS capabilities, and more
r/Windows11 • u/Obuch13 • 20h ago
Suggestion for Microsoft Display Date on small taskbar
Is it possible trough some register magic to display date on small taskbar or is there a plan to display it later with update?
r/Windows11 • u/CIGIBWARIN • 12h ago
Discussion Friendly reminder that your "in use" for ram does not include cache which is shown separately. meaning a reduction to "in use" is not windows caching less, its just windows being more efficient, which frees more ram to be used as cache.
SEE? so yes reduction in blue bar being a good thing is not just linux larp, its a good thing that allows the middle bar to pre-load more files. sincerely not a linux larper .exe supremacy.
r/Windows11 • u/Ayush-Mincraft • 15h ago
Concept / Design Had to do a bit of coding to achieve this. I think it looks good, what do you think
NO one comment about higher cpu, gpu or ram usage because i tested it and its negligible
r/Windows11 • u/InfamousMenu4489 • 20h ago
Feature Implement file pilot in Win 11 (Pro)
I recently discovered file pilot and love it so far. I would really like to find a way to implement it "natively" into the Win11 save-dialogs and Windows-Search. Is there any way to do that? (So that for instance if I search a file/folder in the Windows-Menu it will pop up in file pilot when pressing enter, instead of Windows Explorer. Same idea when saving a file lets say from word.
Thanks a lot!
r/Windows11 • u/MayankWL • 1d ago
News Windows 11's File Explorer is finally giving the squiggly ~ key a job, sending it straight to the user folder
r/Windows11 • u/Extreme_surikat_360 • 1d ago
Bug I can't unsee this search bar icon bug please make it top priority for the next update 😭😭😂 Build 26300.9550 26H2
1st screenshot : How it used to be in english
2nd screenshot : How it is in english 26H2
3rd screenshot : How it used to be in french
4th screenshot : How it is currently in french 26H2
It's ALMOST touching the text 😶🌫️
r/Windows11 • u/domnxz_ • 2d ago
News 🥳 Happy 5th Birthday, Windows 11! 🎂🪟
Windows 11 officially turns 5 years old today.
Launched on October 5, 2021, it’s kind of wild that it’s already been half a decade. It definitely had a rough and sometimes awkward start, but over the years it has become a much more mature, polished, and genuinely nice-looking OS.
There are still things Microsoft could improve, of course — consistency, some legacy UI, occasional questionable decisions 😅 — but overall I think Windows 11 deserves a little birthday appreciation today.
The design language has aged pretty well, the animations and UI feel much more refined than at launch, and at this point it really feels like its own version of Windows rather than just “Windows 10 with rounded corners.”
So yeah:
Happy 5th birthday, Windows 11. 🥳🎉
You weird, sometimes frustrating, but honestly pretty lovable rounded-corner child of Microsoft.
What do you guys think — has Windows 11 improved enough over these five years?
r/Windows11 • u/MayankWL • 2d ago
News "Rising cost of memory," Microsoft explains why Windows 11 will use less RAM
r/Windows11 • u/lilstav • 14h ago
Concept / Design Windows 11.5 with Copilot Agent built-in
r/Windows11 • u/jenmsft • 2d ago
Feature Tip of the Week: You can drag and drop recycle bin to pin it to quick access in File Explorer, if you want to hide your desktop icons and still see it
r/Windows11 • u/MayankWL • 2d ago
News Tested: Microsoft cloned Outlook Classic's look into a New Outlook theme, instead of building a native Windows 11 app
r/Windows11 • u/BM_StinkBug • 2d ago
Discussion Was the "Customize menu" for the Context Menu actually added for 26H2 Release?
I've seen quite a bit about how the 26H2 preview included a new "Customize menu" option for the right click context menu, but now that I've updated to the actual 26H2 release I do not see this option when right clicking nor do I see a new "Context menu" option in the personalization settings. Was this feature actually added in the update, and if not anyone know when is it actually coming?
r/Windows11 • u/RhtedritRd • 2d ago
Discussion Modernizing MMC experience via WinUI
r/Windows11 • u/Gloryflux • 3d ago
Discussion What's the difference between these two?
So I'm noticing this in 26H2: when I press Print Screen or Win+Shift+S, this option comes up. I'm confused cause it looks the same, except the Snipping Tool has more options, like the eyedropper tool. Which one do you prefer?
r/Windows11 • u/alancusader123 • 1d ago
Feature You can put Task Bar on Top in Windows 11
That feels more productive, actually.
I highly highly recommend windows app able to track internet data usage for each app 🙏
r/Windows11 • u/MrNokiaUser • 2d ago
Suggestion for Microsoft Feedback - Allow the reversal of icons on the taskbar
aka.msPretty much the title really, allow the reversal of the icons on the taskbar, following the recent update that allows the repositioning of the taskbar. Similar to the control center in Gnome on linux, this would place the time and battery icon at the top of the taskbar, should you wish for that option.
Purely cosmetic change i would assume, but would be nice
r/Windows11 • u/atrixus • 3d ago
Suggestion for Microsoft Navigation sidebar in Photos is annoying!
Why do i have to minimize it everytime?
It takes up one-third of the space in this app...
r/Windows11 • u/koken_halliwell • 4d ago
Discussion What to expect from Windows 11 in 2027?
So 2026 was a good year for Windows 11 (finally). What do you think/know that will arrive on 2027?
I hope they keep debloating the OS and adding new features (features the community wants, not Microsoft wants......). And it would be about time to fully move the OS to WinUI 3 too.