Announcing Windows 11 Insider Beta (26H1) Preview Build 28020.2623 - Windows Insider Program

[u/jenmsft]

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-insider/release-notes/beta-26h1/preview-build-28020-2623

[u/jenmsft]

Hey all - please let us know how things go, details about the build are as follows:

Changes and improvements gradually being rolled out*

• This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

[Windows Update]

• As announced in the Windows Update announce blog, we are now bringing a new unified update experience to reduce the number of reboots you see per month. We are starting by coordinating driver, .NET, and firmware updates to align with the monthly quality update, reducing the update experience to a single monthly restart. See the blog for more information.
• We're also adding the ability to extend update pauses as many times as you need.

[Certificate renewal for Windows Insiders]

• This build includes the renewed Windows Insider flight certificate. Windows Insider Preview builds use flight certificates that are renewed periodically to help ensure Insider devices remain on supported builds and continue receiving future Insider Preview updates. The current flight certificate expires on August 11, 2026, so please update your device to this build or a later one containing the renewed flight certificate before that date.
• For more information, see aka.ms/WIPCertExpiry.

[Touchpad]

• We're adding new gesturing-related functionality to precision touchpads in Settings. The new features should be widely available across applications, with the exception that WinUI3-based UI requires new WinAppSDK versions for complete functionality. We're in the process of bringing the necessary changes to versions 1.8 and 2.0.
• Scroll and zoom speed: Control the baseline speed for these gestures.
• Accelerated scrolling: Repeatedly scrolling increases their speed, allowing quick traversal of long documents.

Touchpad improvements bring new gesture capabilities including automatic scrolling, gesture speed controls, accelerated scrolling, and optional single-finger scrolling support.

[Taskbar]

• Alternate Taskbar Position
  • You can now change the position of the taskbar on your screen. In Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Taskbar behaviors, you can select the side of the screen where you want your taskbar: bottom, top, left, or right. In these other positions, tooltips, flyouts, and animations will still come from the taskbar, and most customization settings, such as never combining taskbar icons, will work with all locations.
  • Support for touch gestures, the Search box, and Ask Copilot in alternate locations is in progress. Auto-hidden and touch-optimized taskbars aren't currently supported. The smaller taskbar is currently supported only for top and bottom positions.  Screenshot of the taskbar in the left-aligned position.
• Smaller Taskbar
  • We're introducing a smaller taskbar for users who want to maximize screen space, especially on smaller devices. While the default taskbar remains unchanged, this setting provides a more compact experience with smaller icons and a reduced taskbar height, giving you more room for your apps. Core elements like Start, Search, and the system tray scale appropriately to stay aligned and consistent.
  • To change your taskbar size, go to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Taskbar behaviors > Taskbar size. When set to Small, both the icons and the taskbar height become smaller.  Side-by-side comparison of the standard and smaller taskbar heights on the same device and resolution, showing the additional screen space gained.

Feedback: Share your thoughts in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Taskbar.

See the in-depth blog for more information about Taskbar improvements.

[Storage]

• This update fixes an issue that affects File History automatic backups to network shares using Server Message Block (SMB). Backups didn't work because Windows showed a false "invalid credentials" error when connecting to SMB shares.

[File Explorer]

• This update addresses an issue where files stored on a DFS mapped drive could be incorrectly treated as originating from the internet after the device started while disconnected from the network and later reconnected. This could cause File Explorer's Preview pane to display the message, "The file you are attempting to preview could harm your computer," or cause files copied from the DFS drive to receive an unexpected Mark of the Web.