Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26252 (Canary Channel)

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26252 to the Canary Channel.

Developers, please note that for a short period of time, we will not be releasing an SDK for builds we flight to the Canary Channel.

Changes and Improvements

[Lock screen]

  • We’re beginning to roll out Weather and more to your lock screen starting with this build in the Canary Channel. Stay informed and efficient with dynamic updates that bring finance, traffic, and sports to your Lock screen, alongside weather. The card design has been improved with acrylic blur, card size, spacing, and font optimizations. To turn on this feature, go to Settings > Personalization > Lock screen. To learn more, see Personalize your lock screen.
Finance, traffic, and sports content along with weather on the Lock screen.
Finance, traffic, and sports content along with weather on the Lock screen.

[Start menu]

  • You can now also pin apps from the Start menu to the taskbar by dragging and dropping items directly to taskbar from the pinned section in the Start menu.

[Settings]

  • Evaluation copy expiry date information is now visible under Settings > System > About.
Evaluation expiration date highlighted in a red box on the About settings page.
Evaluation expiration date highlighted in a red box on the About settings page.
  • We are beginning to roll out a new energy recommendation for turning off HDR to conserve energy on PCs with HDR displays under Settings > Power & battery > Energy recommendations.
New HDR energy recommendation highlighted in a red box in Settings.
New HDR energy recommendation highlighted in a red box in Settings.

Fixes

[Input]

  • Fixed an issue causing Insiders to see errors when attempting to use Voice Typing with certain languages such as Chinese.
  • Fixed an issue where if you went through Windows Setup (OOBE), pinyin would be unexpectedly displayed twice in the list of available input methods.

[Task Manager]

  • Fixed an issue causing colors in the Performance section to not display correctly in dark mode.

[Settings]

  • Fixed an issue causing the icons in Settings > Apps > Startup too be way too large for the available space for some users, causing them to be cut off.
  • Fixed an issue where Settings > System > Power & Battery unexpectedly had duplicate text when showing a warning about a slow charger.
  • Fixed an issue where the Windows Update page in Settings was not displayed correctly for some Insiders after the previous flight (no text shows). If you are impacted by this, the update to this build with the fix should still happen on its own, however you may need to wait a little bit.

Known issues

[General]

  • [IMPORTANT NOTE] We are investigating reports that some Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels are stuck on Build 26040 or Build 23620. The investigation is ongoing, however if you are impacted by this and really want to get onto the latest build in the Canary or Dev Channel today – you can download the latest ISO here and do a clean install and opt your device back into flighting in the Canary or Dev Channels.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

  • The builds we release to the Canary Channel should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
  • Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
  • Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
  • To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder – Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.
  • The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.
  • Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.
  • Copilot in Windows* is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders across our global markets. Customers in the European Economic Area will be able to download the Copilot in Windows experience as an app from the Microsoft Store.

Thanks,
Amanda & Brandon