{"id":717234,"date":"2026-07-29T12:26:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T12:26:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/717234\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T12:26:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T12:26:13","slug":"microsoft-releases-kb5101684-for-windows-11-24h2-and-25h2-with-windows-hello-upgrades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/717234\/","title":{"rendered":"Microsoft releases KB5101684 for Windows 11 24H2 and 25H2 with Windows Hello upgrades"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here\u2019s how it works<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Cumulative Update Preview KB5101684 for Windows 11 24H2 and 25H2 brings Voice Isolation, new touchpad gestures, Windows Hello upgrades, and more. <\/p>\n

\n

Ivan Jenic<\/a><\/p>\n

Neowin
\n @ivan_jenic<\/a> \u00b7<\/p>\n

Jul 28, 2026 21:16 EDT<\/p>\n

\"windows<\/a><\/p>\n

Microsoft has released Cumulative Update Preview for KB5101684 (OS Builds 26200.8973 and 26100.8973) for Windows 11 versions 25H2 and 24H2. KB5101684 brings some features that were already present in Insider builds<\/a>, including Voice Isolation to Voice Access, new gesture controls for precision touchpads. The update also includes fixes for File Explorer, MDM enrollment, and File History backups over SMB, along with a servicing stack update to improve installation reliability.<\/p>\n

Here’s the full changelog for the gradual rollout:<\/p>\n

File Explorer<\/p>\n

File sizes in the Details view now display using appropriate units (KB, MB, GB) instead of KB-only, making them easier to understand at a glance.<\/p>\n

Middle click to open a folder in a new tab is now supported in the Address Bar and the Home page for a more consistent and efficient tabbed navigation experience across File Explorer.<\/p>\n

This update eliminates a grey flash on load and unexpected scrolling to the top on the Home page in certain cases.<\/p>\n

This update improves the appearance of file thumbnails in the Recommended section on the Home page so they\u2019re crisper and easier to read.<\/p>\n

Windows Search<\/p>\n

This update improves app search to better handle typos and partial app names when finding installed apps.<\/p>\n

This update improves Settings relevance to surface more useful settings higher in search results.<\/p>\n

Voice Access<\/p>\n

New! This update adds Voice Isolation to Voice Access, helping it better recognize your voice by reducing interference from other speakers and background noise. Voice Access now offers three speed recognition modes under Voice Access settings > Improve speech recognition:<\/p>\n

Voice Isolation \u2014 Filters out other speakers and background noise (one-time voice setup required).<\/p>\n

Remove background noise only \u2014 Filters out non-speech sounds like typing or door slams. No additional setup needed.<\/p>\n

No filtering \u2014 Default microphone input with no additional processing.<\/p>\n

To set up Voice Isolation, go to Voice Access settings > Improve speech recognition and select Voice Isolation.<\/p>\n

New! This update adds Korean language support for voice access.<\/p>\n

This update improves the realiability of starting Voice Access.<\/p>\n

Widgets<\/p>\n

New! Taskbar notification badges now use your Windows accent color instead of appearing red, helping reduce unnecessary attention-grabbing alerts.<\/p>\n

New! This update also simplifies the Lock screen Widgets experience. For new users, Weather is now the only widget shown on the Lock screen by default.<\/p>\n

Touchpad<\/p>\n

Start menu<\/p>\n

The update improves the reliability of Start menu view preferences, ensuring your selected view is retained.<\/p>\n

This update improves keyboard navigation when keyboard focus was set to the apps list within Start menu.<\/p>\n

Voice Typing<\/p>\n

Fluid dictation<\/a> is now off by default for new users. A teaching tip is also available when the feature is used for the first time.<\/p>\n

Input<\/p>\n

\tThis update improves persistence of mouse cursor size.<\/p>\n

Windowing<\/p>\n

\tThis update ensures system dialogs open at the appropriate size on small tablets.<\/p>\n

Accessibility<\/p>\n

\tThis update improves the Magnifier experience on touch-enabled devices. The horizontal and vertical touch bars used to pan the magnified view are now off by default, so they no longer obstruct magnified content. If you use touch to pan, you can turn the bars back on in Settings > Accessibility > Magnifier.<\/p>\n

Windows Hello<\/p>\n

New! Windows Hello Enhanced Sign-in Security (ESS) now supports peripheral fingerprint sensors. This update extends this secure sign in option beyond devices with built in fingerprint sensors to include desktops and other Windows 11 PCs, including Copilot+ PCs. To get started, plug in a supported ESS fingerprint reader, go to Settings > Accounts > Sign in options, and follow the prompts to enroll. This feature was previously disclosed in January 2026 (KB5074105<\/a>) and is now beginning to roll out.<\/p>\n

Fonts<\/p>\n

This update restores support for Unicode variation sequences in the Myanmar Text font.<\/p>\n

This update improves character shaping and rendering for Mongolian Baiti font, providing more accurate and consistent text display.<\/p>\n

Account Control<\/p>\n

\tThis update refreshes the design of the Start menu account control and adds a badge that displays your subscription status. To view your account control, open the Start menu and select your account picture in the lower-left corner. This experience is available for users signed in with a Microsoft account. 1<\/p>\n

Taskbar<\/p>\n

\tThis update improves reliability of loading the system tray area of the taskbar when using the taskbar on touch devices in a tablet posture.<\/p>\n

AI Component<\/p>\n

\tThis update allows you to remove the Image Generation AI component from supported Copilot+ PCs where the component is installed.<\/p>\n

Windows Setup<\/p>\n

\tThis update adds a parental controls notice during Windows setup that highlights available family safety features.<\/p>\n

Power and Battery<\/p>\n

\tThis update improves the reliability of power settings by applying changes made in Settings to all power plans. This includes display, sleep, hibernate, power button, sleep button, and lid-close settings, helping ensure your preferences are consistently maintained.
\n\tThis update restores the ability to set a threshold for when energy saver should enable within Settings > System > Power & Battery.<\/p>\n

Windows Update<\/p>\n

This update improves calculation of update progress progression in Windows Update Settings.<\/p>\n

This update includes changes to update clean-up logic to improve system performance immediately following an update.<\/p>\n

Sounds<\/p>\n

\tThis update improves system sounds when using Windows in dark mode.<\/p>\n

Date and Time<\/p>\n

This update improves detection for triggering time zone change notifications.<\/p>\n

This update improves daylight saving time (DST) data accuracy for Middle East Standard Time (Beirut), Morocco Standard Time (Casablanca), Israel Standard Time (Jerusalem), and Greenland Standard Time (Nuuk).<\/p>\n

Network<\/p>\n

\tThis update improves the reliability of DHCP renewals in a few scenarios, particularly in the case of NACKs received from the DHCP server, as well as on devices that use Modern Standby.<\/p>\n

Print<\/p>\n

\tThis update improves print time performance (page per minute) for IPPS (Internet Printing Protocol Secure) printers.<\/p>\n

Clipboard<\/p>\n

\tThis update improves clipboard reliability in some Remote Desktop and Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) scenarios.<\/p>\n

General Reliability<\/p>\n

This update improves explorer.exe reliability, including when opening Jump Lists and recent files, when sharing files and folders, and when using Task View and multiple desktops.<\/p>\n

This update improves the reliability of the Windows sign-in and lock screens, especially when system memory is low. It also improves the reliability of the Start menu and taskbar during startup.<\/p>\n

1Feature availability varies by device and market.<\/p>\n

This non-security update includes quality improvements. The following summary outlines key issues addressed by the KB update after you install it. Also, included are available new features. The bold text within the brackets indicates the item or area of the change.<\/p>\n

Secure Boot<\/p>\n

\tThis update includes additional high confidence device targeting data, increasing coverage of devices eligible to automatically receive new Secure Boot certificates<\/a>. Certificate deployment via Windows updates continues across supported PCs and non-managed business devices in the coming months.<\/p>\n

App<\/p>\n

\tThis update improves the stability of Office applications used in virtualized environments. Users should experience a more reliable experience when working with and closing Office apps.<\/p>\n

File Explorer<\/p>\n

\tThis 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\u2019s Preview Pane to display the message, \u201cThe file you are attempting to preview could harm your computer,\u201d or cause files copied from the DFS drive to receive an unexpected Mark of the Web.<\/p>\n

Mobile device management (MDM)<\/p>\n

\tThis updates addresses an issue affecting newly provisioned or newly recovered Windows devices running versions of Windows released on or after July 14, 2026 (KB5101650<\/a>). After enrollment in a mobile device management (MDM) service such as Microsoft Intune, affected devices could remain in an incorrect noncompliant state and be unable to access corporate resources.<\/p>\n

Storage<\/p>\n

\tThis update fixes an issue that affects File History automatic backups to network shares using Server Message Block (SMB). Backups did not work because Windows showed a false \u201cinvalid credentials\u201d error when connecting to SMB shares.<\/p>\n

If you installed earlier updates, your device downloads and installs only the new updates contained in this package.<\/p>\n

Here’s the full changelog for the normal rollout:<\/p>\n

This non-security update includes quality improvements. The following summary outlines key issues addressed by the KB update after you install it. Also, included are available new features. The bold text within the brackets indicates the item or area of the change.<\/p>\n

Secure Boot<\/p>\n

\tThis update includes additional high confidence device targeting data, increasing coverage of devices eligible to automatically receive new Secure Boot certificates<\/a>. Certificate deployment via Windows updates continues across supported PCs and non-managed business devices in the coming months.<\/p>\n

App<\/p>\n

\tThis update improves the stability of Office applications used in virtualized environments. Users should experience a more reliable experience when working with and closing Office apps.<\/p>\n

File Explorer<\/p>\n

\tThis 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\u2019s Preview Pane to display the message, \u201cThe file you are attempting to preview could harm your computer,\u201d or cause files copied from the DFS drive to receive an unexpected Mark of the Web.<\/p>\n

Mobile device management (MDM)<\/p>\n

\tThis updates addresses an issue affecting newly provisioned or newly recovered Windows devices running versions of Windows released on or after July 14, 2026 (KB5101650<\/a>). After enrollment in a mobile device management (MDM) service such as Microsoft Intune, affected devices could remain in an incorrect noncompliant state and be unable to access corporate resources.<\/p>\n

Storage<\/p>\n

\tThis update fixes an issue that affects File History automatic backups to network shares using Server Message Block (SMB). Backups did not work because Windows showed a false \u201cinvalid credentials\u201d error when connecting to SMB shares.<\/p>\n

If you installed earlier updates, your device downloads and installs only the new updates contained in this package.<\/p>\n

Check out the full update history of Windows 11, versions 25H2 and 24H2 here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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