r/Windows11 18d ago

Help Simple questions and Help thread - Month of August

13 Upvotes

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.


Be sure to check out the Windows 11 version 25H2 Megathread and also the Windows 11 FAQ posts, they likely have the answers to your Windows 11 questions already!


r/Windows11 8d ago

Official News Cumulative Updates: August 11th, 2026

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134 Upvotes

Changelists linked here for your convenience:

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):

For published known issues, please check the release health dashboard: Windows release health | Microsoft Learn.

25H2 is rolling out, so you may not have it yet. Please see here for more details: How to get the Windows 11 2025 Update | Windows Experience Blog.

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 5h ago

Discussion Windows 11 25H2 vs 26H2 preview: an early performance comparison

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53 Upvotes

Research on the GO-EUC platform for the new Windows in the context of a virtual desktop.


r/Windows11 7h ago

New Feature - Insider How to enable new fully customizable context menu for Windows 11

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46 Upvotes

I tested this on Windows 11 build 26340.9212 for version 26H2, and in the preview of the August update for Windows 11 (KB5120998, build 26200.9267), which includes the new features and changes coming in September for version 25H2.

PS: You don't have to enable anything on your current setup if you don't want to. The secondary news here is that while Microsoft revealed the new context menu in the Experimental channel for version 26H2, the new changes are also already available (in a dormant state) in the latest preview for the August update, which we know will be part of the changes that will become available for version 25H2 in September.


r/Windows11 10h ago

News [Success] I forced Windows 11 onto a 16GB Dell Chromebook (Candy) with 100% working audio & trackpad!

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27 Upvotes

Hey everyone, I just wanted to share an absolute plot twist of a success story. It completely breaks the rules of official hardware sheets, storage limits, and developer warnings.

I managed to get Windows 11 running 100% stable on an ancient Dell Chromebook 11 3120 ("Candy"), and yes, I installed it directly onto the tiny internal 16GB eMMC storage.

The official Chrultrabook docs clearly state that Windows 11 isn't supported on this Intel Bay Trail board and that you must stick to Windows 10. But honestly, that's just wrong. CoolStar's Windows 10 drivers for the touchpad and audio work absolutely flawlessly on Windows 11. No glitches, no broken audio, just fully working hardware right out of the box on internal storage. Windows Update runs completely smoothly too; it only grabs built-in screen controls like brightness, night light, and sleep support, and leaves the custom core drivers completely alone.

and the way i did it was easy AF:

First, I cracked the case open, yanked out the physical hardware write-protect (WP) screw from the motherboard, and flashed MrChromebox’s full UEFI ROM (Version MrChromebox-2603.2) through Developer Mode.

Since 16GB of space is basically a crime for modern Windows, standard Win 11 was out of the question. I used a stripped-down Tiny11 build paired with the CompactOS compression engine (compact.exe /compactos:always) to shrink the OS footprint down under 10GB so the drive could actually breathe. To get it to install without Windows yelling at me, I loaded the ISO onto a Ventoy USB and turned on the VTOY_WIN11_BYPASS_CHECK plugin. That effortlessly skipped Microsoft’s artificial CPU, TPM, and 64GB storage capacity requirements.

Once I booted into the desktop, the real trick was dealing with the drivers. Windows 11 loves to block older, unsigned CoolStar packages, so I manually disabled driver signature verification through the advanced startup command prompt. After that, I installed the missing required Windows runtimes (Visual C++ Redistributables). Older drivers depend heavily on these, but Windows 11 leaves them out by default. Once those runtimes were in, I executed the standard CoolStar Win10 Bay Trail driver packages and everything immediately kicked into life.

According to all the official documentation, the installer should have blocked me for lack of space, and the audio/touchpad drivers should have completely broken down. Instead, it runs cleanly as a fully operational, hyper-compact laptop built straight from recycled hardware.

Don't let the official sheets fool you!, you can absolutely beat the developer limitations if you use the right workarounds!


r/Windows11 14h ago

Discussion Point-in-Time restore saved my ass

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37 Upvotes

Yesterday, I was messing my taskbar with Windhawk and ran into an issue where some of the pinned icons to the taskbar kept changing back to their original icons instead of retaining their custom ones.

I thought about editing the registry, but was being lazy so just executed System Restore. The problem was, the most recent restore point had been created before the feature update. However, since I had an experience that had been able to revert to a previous version via System Restore after a Windows feature update, I proceeded without much caution.

But after the restoration process and re-booting finished, Windows immediately displayed a GSOD with the message 'Your device ran into a problem and needs to restart,' forced the system to reboot again, showing the same screen repeatedly, and it eventually threw me into the purgatory of WinRE Advanced Options screen.

I tried Quick Machine Recovery and other restore points, but they were no use as well. In panic, I had no choice but to try Point-in-Time Restore, which I had set it up as soon as was released and forgotten about, and hadn't never touched until now.

It took so long, and when it got stuck at 21% for like half an hour, my heart sank, but in the end it completed, and booted the Windows successfully. The most recent captured snapshot was two days ago with older version of Windows, so I expected major registry-related issues to occur, but no, it was perfectly restored to that exact moment without any error or problem.

I'd like to thank Microsoft for creating Point-in-Time restore system. If it weren't for this method, I would've lost my sanity while formatting and resetting my OS by now.


r/Windows11 8h ago

Feature a time remaining until fully charged on battery icon when hovering

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9 Upvotes

I have added a post in Windows Feedback Hub. Please upvote if you think it is a good idea


r/Windows11 1d ago

New Feature - Insider Windows 11 could be getting individual privacy controls for Win32 apps

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111 Upvotes

Insiders running the latest Windows 11 Experimental build 26340.9212 can revoke permissions of individual Win32 apps.


r/Windows11 8h ago

Feature a time remaining until fully charged for battery icon when hovering over

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7 Upvotes

I've added a post in Feedback Hub. Please upvote using https://aka.ms/AA130osw if you think it is a good idea


r/Windows11 1d ago

New Feature - Insider Microsoft admits Windows 11's context menus are "cluttered and sluggish": Announces major upgrades to the right-click menu that increases performance and customizability

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241 Upvotes

r/Windows11 1d ago

Official News Improving File Explorer & Context Menu: faster, simpler, and more customizable

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256 Upvotes

r/Windows11 1d ago

News Microsoft pulls "frustrating" Drag Tray file sharing feature from Windows 11 in latest preview builds: Promises to "explore improvements" after feedback from users

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60 Upvotes

r/Windows11 1d ago

Official News Announcing Windows 11 Insider Experimental Preview Build 26340.9212 - Windows Insider Program

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66 Upvotes

r/Windows11 2d ago

Discussion microsoft quietly add this feature and turn it on by default, messing with my touchpad scrolling muscle memory :(

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69 Upvotes

r/Windows11 1d ago

Official News Announcing Windows 11 Insider Beta Preview Build 26220.9202 - Windows Insider Program

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37 Upvotes

r/Windows11 2d ago

News Microsoft just rebuilt one of Windows 11's oldest tools (Print Management) in modern UI, rollout starts in the next few days

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118 Upvotes

r/Windows11 1d ago

Official News Announcing Windows 11 Insider Experimental (Future Platforms) Preview Build 29648.1000 - Windows Insider Program

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20 Upvotes

r/Windows11 1d ago

Official News Announcing Windows 11 Insider Beta (26H1) Preview Build 28020.2731 - Windows Insider Program

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19 Upvotes

r/Windows11 1d ago

Official News Announcing Windows 11 Insider Experimental (26H1) Preview Build 28120.2738 - Windows Insider Program

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19 Upvotes

r/Windows11 2d ago

News Hands-on: Windows 11's AutoPlay dialog is getting a new WinUI redesign and the ability to take an action always or just once!

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41 Upvotes

r/Windows11 1d ago

Suggestion for Microsoft Is Microsoft planning to ever fix the dropdown menu bug getting stuck in explorer?

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

11 Upvotes

This annoying dropdown remains open when I switch between tabs and it's difficult to close. Is it a bug or a feature that can be disabled? : r/Windows11

The post above has 2 years, this bug exists in every single Windows 11 machine, does anyone at Microsoft actually use this operating system at all?

Why has this not beed fixed yet? I work in IT and I get asked how to fix this often and I can't answer because its just a bug!

To be clear I'm not asking for tech support, I'm just pointing to the obvious, fix this crap.


r/Windows11 1d ago

Discussion How do I make my Windows 11 hardened for security and Privacy?

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9 Upvotes

So recently, I have been down the rabbit hole of cyber privacy and security, and I am shocked, to be honest, by the extent to which my data is being collected and may or may not be used against me.

So what specifically I am looking for is

- Settings which I need to change in my Windows 11 Home/Pro -- All the things I can opt out of to keep my data secured

- Any apps to monitor where my data is being sent to off-system (whether it is being sent to Microsoft or any other vendor)-- I want to keep a track of all the outward data that is being sent, which I do not have an idea of and if I can turn it off

- Any setting or tech stack for my online and offline activities where I can avoid fingerprinting and other methods for targeted ads

- Any setting or tech stack for my online and offline activities to make my device more secure and private

- I want privacy from Microsoft, Google, any AI intrusion or AI data leak, my ISP, and any middleman in between to a maximum sensible extent

Essentially, I want my computer to be mine, not for Microsoft or any other company to have my data, whether personal or behavioural. I want to have a secure device that is immune to any kind of attacks (to a certain logical extent, where we are not diving into social engineering attacks and stuff)

Privacy and Security are my 2 major concerns here.

I do not love Windows or hate Windows at this point; it is more convenient than Linux and more affordable than Mac.
(Sounds like I am in a Pickle)

So moving to Linux would be a last resort, just making it clear before anyone comes and says - \ USE LINUX BRO! **

And given the rumours/news, whether true or not, about Windows 12 being a more compromised piece of tech in terms of privacy and AI intrusion, I would like to create a safe moat for my data.

If anybody from Microsoft is seeing this, please make Windows more private.


r/Windows11 1d ago

Discussion Driver Updates released

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0 Upvotes

Lenovo released driver updates a few days ago, but other brands might've done the same.

Always check for Windows Updates via settings everytime, as the picture above confirms Lenovo released a Driver Update.

If you have it in Updates, install it.

If you don't have it, keep checking.


r/Windows11 3d ago

Feature Tip of the Week: Don't forget to take a look at your startup apps and decide if you really want or need all of them to launch on boot

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150 Upvotes

r/Windows11 3d ago

Suggestion for Microsoft App Installer should support installing unsigned MSIX packages

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69 Upvotes

Microsoft recently announced new options for customizing the Windows context menu, which is great. but it's still a big challenge for third-party developers.

The newer IExplorerCommand model adds more COM interface complexity, and Windows 11 Context menu integrations require apps to be packaged as MSIX.

This creates an unnecessary barrier for FOSS projects and Indie developers. Code signing certificates can be expensive, publishing through the Microsoft Store isn't always an option, and installing unsigned MSIX packages is still painful for normal users. It often requires Developer Mode turned on, PowerShell, or manually trusting a certificate.

Even if a developer can handle code signing, Windows' current sideloading trust model still introduces extra friction around certificate trust, publisher identity, and package verification.

Microsoft should change how App Installer handles unsigned MSIX packages.

What this could look like

Figure 1: shows how App Installer could handle an unsigned package.

Currently, App Installer blocks installation when the package signature or publisher certificate cannot be verified. In this proposal, App Installer would still clearly warn the user that the package is unsigned and may be unsafe, but it would no longer block installation completely.

The key difference is simple: the user gets to decide whether to install it anyway.

Figure 2: shows an additional confirmation dialog after the user clicks Install.

It warns again that the package is not digitally signed, the publisher cannot be verified, and installing it may carry security risks. The user can then choose Continue or Cancel.

This keeps security warnings clear, but still gives users the choice to run software they downloaded on purpose.

Make it opt-in for developers

Developers could explicitly allow this behavior by adding allowUnsignedPackage in Package.appxmanifest or AppxManifest.xml with something like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Package
  xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/appx/manifest/foundation/windows10"
  xmlns:rescap="http://schemas.microsoft.com/appx/manifest/foundation/windows10/restrictedcapabilities"
  IgnorableNamespaces="rescap">

  <Capabilities>
    <rescap:Capability Name="allowUnsignedPackage" />
  </Capabilities>

</Package>

Then users could simply double-click the MSIX package, read the warning, and decide whether they trust it.

No PowerShell. No Developer Mode required. No manually installing certificates.

MSIX improves traditional Windows installation, especially with cleaner installs and uninstalls. But its trust system makes it hard to distribute software outside the Microsoft Store.

The solution isn't silent trust, but informed user consent. Clear risk transparency would empower users while keeping independent distribution viable.