Introduced: Four novel enhancements within the Windows 11 Insider Program from early August 2025 onwards
In the first half of August 2025, the Windows 11 Insider Program introduced a series of visual changes and new features aimed at improving visual consistency, touch and mobile integration, and providing more intuitive selection and interaction methods.
Microsoft has been gradually transferring features from the Control Panel to the Settings app, with build 26200.5742 and 26120.5742 marking significant strides in this regard.
One of the most notable changes is the redesigned mobile companion sidebar in the Start menu, introduced in build 26200.5742. This sidebar keeps the main elements from before but now allows scrolling through more recent activities. Users can access messages, calls, photos, app updates, and more from their Android or iPhone devices directly via this sidebar.
File Explorer also saw updates, with changes in the File Explorer Home for users signed in with work or school accounts. People icons at the top and under the “Activity” column are now visible, and hovering over these shows Microsoft 365 contacts. Dark mode improvements were applied to more dialogs in File Explorer, and the “Open with” submenu was visually refined.
New selection modes were introduced in "Click to Do" for touch and pen users. These include Freeform Selection, Rectangle Selection, and Ctrl + Click for more precise control, enhancing interaction especially on touch-enabled devices.
Bug fixes and usability improvements were also implemented, such as fixing the Start menu crash for some Insiders and addressing touchpad gesture issues. The Privacy & Security section removed the option to clear Bing Search history within Settings, now requiring the use of a web-based Privacy dashboard.
Additional features include the ability to copy the current user settings to the welcome screen and screen account, and the settings to new user accounts, under the "Additional settings" section in the "Language & region" section. Users can now change the "AM" and "PM" symbols in the "Format" page.
In the "Date & time" section of the Settings app, the "Show time and date in the system tray" setting now allows adding multiple clocks with the option to change the time zone and nickname for each clock. The "Unicode UTF-8 for worldwide language support" feature can now be enabled under the "Windows display language" setting in the "Language & region" section.
On the "Keyboard" page, the operating system now includes an option to change the delay and rate for character repeat. Under the "Additional settings" section on the "Date & time" page, users will now find the settings to change the time server.
Microsoft has released five previews for Windows 11 through the Windows Insider Program in the first half of August 2025, with these updates primarily distributed across Dev and Beta Channels. The updates also include the ability to pin your favorite apps for sharing content on the Windows Share interface, and the addition of the "Format" page to the "Date & time" section of the Settings app to change the date and time format. The Text cursor page now allows control over the cursor blink rate, and options for the number and currency formats can be found under the "Regional format" section in the "Language & region" section.
- Microsoft, as part of the Windows 11 Insider Program's updates in August 2025, has introduced a redesigned mobile companion sidebar in the Start menu for better integration with Android and iPhone devices.
- With the new selection modes in "Click to Do", Microsoft aims to enhance touch and pen interaction, offering features like Freeform Selection, Rectangle Selection, and Ctrl + Click for more precise control.
- In addition to these changes, Microsoft has also introduced the ability to copy the current user settings to the welcome screen and screen account, and the settings for new user accounts, under the "Additional settings" section in the "Language & region" section.
4.Windows 11 also allows users to add multiple clocks and change the time zone for each clock in the "Date & time" section of the Settings app, with the option to enable Unicode UTF-8 for worldwide language support under the "Windows display language" setting in the "Language & region" section.
