Windows 11’s monthly Patch Tuesday update is here, and it’s one of the biggest of the year. In addition to the usual group of bug fixes and security updates, the July Patch Tuesday update includes some major new features.
Our Mauro Huculak broke down the 13 features that matter most from Windows 11’s July 2026 update. The update is substantial and includes new ways to recover your PC, improve accessibility, and update Windows.
As is normally the case for Windows 11 Patch Tuesday updates, we’ve known what was on the way for weeks. Microsoft rolled out the latest features and changes to Windows 11 through a preview update toward the end of last month.
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Ironically, the biggest change in this update is that it will allow you to pause updates indefinitely. Starting with this build you can stop your PC from getting updates for up to 35 days and then re-pause updates.
The downside is that you have to manually pause updates again if you want to stop them for more than 35 days.
Point-in-time Restore is another big addition. The feature lets you roll back a system to a previous working state. Windows 11 automatically creates restore points that include settings, files, and apps.
Widgets are better following the update as well. You now have greater control over notifications and personalization settings. Opening the widgets panel will open the dashboard on first use.
The full release notes for the update are shared in a Microsoft support document and listed below.
Windows 11 July 2026 Update (gradual rollout)
- [Point-in-time restore for Windows] New! This flexible recovery feature helps you quickly roll back your PC, including apps, settings, and personal files, to a recent automatic restore point. It helps reduce downtime and simplifies troubleshooting when issues occur. To learn more, see Point-in-time restore for Windows.
- [Windows Update] New! A calendar experience in Windows Update Settings (Settings > Windows Update) lets you pause updates by choosing an end date, for up to 35 days. You can extend the pause by selecting a different end date and re‑pause updates as needed. For more information, see Pause updates in Windows.
- [Widgets] New! A quieter, more focused Widgets experience helps reduce interruptions and improves default settings and notification controls:
- Reduce distractions: Widgets no longer open on hover. Notifications and taskbar badges are minimized by default.
- Simpler: Open to the Widgets dashboard by default on first use.
- Customize: Configure Widgets how you want by selecting Settings in the navigation bar, then changing any of the default settings.
- Stay informed: Dashboard icons show the number of alerts, and badges clear automatically when you leave a dashboard.
- Adjusted defaults: Some default settings are preserved based on usage, while others adjust to reduce interruptions.
- Performance improvements: This update provides improved reliability, responsiveness, and visual quality across the Widget experience.
- [Accessibility] New! This update makes your screen easier to see and customizes your zoom experience:
- Screen tint: Apply a full-screen color overlay to help reduce eye strain and improve readability. Choose from preset tint options, adjust the intensity, or turn it on automatically. Find this feature in Settings > Accessibility.
- Magnifier: Enter a zoom percentage directly and change it in increments in the Magnifier window for more precise, flexible control.
- Magnifier settings menu: You can now also modify zoom increments directly from the magnifier bar instead of navigating to Windows Settings each time.
- [File Explorer]
- New! When you hover over a file in File Explorer Home, commands such as Open file location and Ask Copilot appear as quick actions. This experience is now supported for work and school accounts (Entra ID).1
- Improves the speed and performance of File Explorer launch.2
- This update improves File Explorer responsiveness when mounting disk images.
- The address bar now supports paths containing double backslashes and quotation marks (for example, C:\\Users\\user or “C:\Users\user”), improving compatibility with a wider range of inputs.
- The address bar suggestion dropdown is more reliable and now consistently closes after an item is selected.
- This update addresses an issue on File Explorer Home where OneDrive files could appear duplicated in the Favorites section.
- This update includes several refinements to the Rename experience:
- Addresses an issue where text was repeatedly selected when renaming items in folder views.
- Addresses an issue where case-only name changes were not immediately reflected in folder views for items stored locally or in the cloud.
- [Bluetooth] This update improves reliability and performance when connecting to and using Bluetooth devices:
- New! Windows now keeps the microphone mute state in sync between the audio mixer and the Hands-Free Profile (HFP) for a more consistent experience with Bluetooth headphones with mute buttons or indicators.
- Accessory compatibility workarounds: Improves compatibility with specific Bluetooth audio devices, helping AirPods appear faster in pairing mode and improving microphone reliability on Beats Studio Pro headphones.
- Bluetooth audio stability:
- Improves overall Windows stability with certain PC manufacturer drivers (error code 0x9F).
- Improves Bluetooth reliability for voice calls when using Classic Audio devices with the Hands-Free Profile (HFP).
- Reduces time for LE Audio accessories to start playing audio while using the microphone.
- Device management: Windows will no longer show a “Remove failed” message when attempting to remove Bluetooth devices if the Bluetooth radio is unavailable or has changed since pairing.
- Settings experience: Improves stability when using the Bluetooth & devices settings page for a smoother, more consistent experience.
- Connection reliability and responsiveness:
- Reduces the time it takes for classic Bluetooth audio devices to reconnect after Windows resumes from hibernation.
- Improves reliability when LE Audio accessories disconnect, such as when another device (for example, a phone) connects.
- Improves reliability of LE Audio streaming after a connection is lost and restored.
- [Bluetooth and Phone Link] This update improves audio routing for calls made through a connected phone:
- When an outgoing call is dialed from a paired phone, audio remains on the phone while ringing and transfers to the PC only when the call is answered from the PC.
- When Do Not Disturb is enabled on Windows, incoming call audio from a paired phone no longer rings on the PC.
- [Voice access and voice typing] **New!** You can now use voice access and voice typing in French, German, and Spanish. As you speak, your PC improves your text in real time. It corrects grammar, punctuation, and recognition errors, and helps improve clarity—even in the presence of background noise. This makes dictation smoother and reduces the need for manual edits.3
- [Audio] This update improves the reliability of the inbox HD Audio driver.
- [Taskbar] This update improves the reliability of opening the Start menu when selecting the left edge of the taskbar when the icons in the taskbar are left-aligned.
- [Networking]
- This update includes networking improvements for virtualized environments. Confidential Virtual Machines (CVMs) now use SR-IOV hardware acceleration by default for improved network throughput, and a configuration issue in nested Hyper-V virtualization network setup has been corrected to ensure reliable VM network provisioning.
- This update improves the reliability of the Windows networking stack. It reduces bug checks (blue screen errors) related to Wi-Fi power and improves cellular (WWAN) connectivity, including support for IPv6 VPNs. Compatibility with third-party VPN software and SR-IOV configurations on server hardware is also improved. Network adapter settings and bindings are now preserved across OS upgrades.
- [Printing] New! New printer installations use Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) by default when supported, simplifying setup and improving reliability. For details about third-party driver deprecation, see End of Servicing Plan for Third-Party Printer Drivers on Windows. To control this behavior, use the toggle in Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners > Default install printers using Windows Ready Print. For more information, see Introducing Windows Ready Print and modernized driver selection. For more information, see Introducing Windows Ready Print and Modernized Driver Selection.
- [Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)] The update improves usage of WSL in mirrored networking mode with VPNs.
- [Display and graphics]
- Improves the reliability of rendering content while scrolling for certain apps spanning across multiple monitors.
- Improves the reliability and persistence of applying color profiles.
- [Location services] This update changes how some location settings are displayed in Settings > Privacy & Security > Location to help with clarity. When location services are turned off, settings like Default location and Allow location override don’t immediately apply, since location information is not given to apps or services. These settings will now be greyed out when location services are off to reduce confusion over when they take effect.
- [Search] This update improves the reliability of setting Search related group policies.
- [Input]
- New! You can now customize the size of the right-click zone in Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Touchpad. Choose from default, small, medium, or large to control how much of the bottom-right corner responds to a single-finger right-click. This setting is only available on touchpads with a pressable surface. If your device manufacturer provides customization through their own app, a Custom option will appear to reflect those settings.
- This update improves recognition of English characters when using Japanese handwriting.
- [General performance] Improves the time to shut down Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) when you turn off your PC.
- [General Reliability] This update improves the reliability of explorer.exe. It addresses issues on the login and lock screens related to third-party credential providers, reduces the probability of taskbar icons appearing as blank gray placeholders, and improves navigation to Home in File Explorer during OneDrive sync. It also improves explorer.exe reliability when switching between desktops, enhances app launch with shell extensions, and using acrylic blur effects in the Start menu, Settings, and the lock screen.
- [Apps] Resolves an issue where some installers and applications could show unexpected elevation (UAC) prompts after installing KB5089549.
- [Remote Desktop] This update refreshes the dialog design when you enable Remote Desktop in Settings > System > Remote Desktop.
- [Graphics Kernel] Improves memory-management policy that allows PCs with more than 32GB of installed memory to run larger local AI models.
Windows 11 July 2026 Update (gradual rollout)
- [Secure Boot] With this update, Windows quality updates include additional high confidence device targeting data, increasing coverage of devices eligible to automatically receive new Secure Boot certificates. Devices receive the new certificates only after demonstrating sufficient successful update signals, maintaining a controlled and phased rollout.
- [Authentication] This update improves Netlogon secure channel connections between domain controllers, enabling successful connections from member servers to domain controllers set up before 2025.
- [Emoji Panel Update] The emoji panel (Windows key + period (.)) now uses GIPHY for GIF content following the deprecation of Google’s Tenor API. Starting June 30, 2026, install the latest Windows update to continue using GIFs in the Emoji panel. If you don’t update, you will see a “GIF service is not available” error in the panel. Installing the latest Windows update will restore access to GIFs.
- [Networking] This update improves how your device connects to shared network resources. Connections used by apps and system features, such as the NetUseAdd function, now work more reliably, including unauthenticated (null session) connections.
- [Recycle Bin (known issue)] Fixed: This update addresses an issue where the confirmation dialog might display an internal Recycle Bin file name instead of the original file name when permanently deleting a file. This issue might occur after installing the June 2026 security update (KB5094126).
- [Storage] This update improves disk space usage for the CapabilityAccessManager.db-wal file.
- [Taskbar] This update improves notification badge display across your apps. Notification counts and badge visuals now update correctly, helping you stay up to date with new activity.
- [File Explorer] This update fixes an issue where the OneDrive shortcut in File Explorer stops working when File Explorer is run with administrative mode.
- [Notification badges (known issue)] Fixed: This update addresses an issue where notification badge counts for some applications such as Microsoft Teams and WhatsApp, might not refresh correctly. As a result, badge indicators might continue to display outdated notification counts until the application is restarted or badge count is refreshed.
You can download this month’s Patch Tuesday update through the Windows Settings app. Clicking the “Check for updates” button within the “Windows Update” section should start the process.
Alternatively, you can download the update through the Microsoft Update Catalog.
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