Win Update KB5120996 Windows 11 Cumulative Update Preview build 28000.2804 (26H1) - Aug. 27

This cumulative update for Windows 11, version 26H1 (KB5120996), includes production-quality improvements.

Announcements and messages​

This section provides key notifications related to this release, including announcements, change logs, and end-of-support notices.

Highlights​

This update is available through two release phases: gradual rollout and normal rollout. A gradual rollout delivers an update in phases, so features reach devices over time instead of all at once, meaning availability varies by device. A normal rollout is the broad release to all eligible devices at the same time, usually when it reaches general availability (GA).



The following summary outlines features from AI-powered Windows 11 PC experiences, along with improvements and fixes. The bold text within the brackets indicates the item or area of the change.

Windows 11 PC experiences​

This section highlights some new features and enhancements for Windows 11 PCs, including AI-powered capabilities, continuous innovation, and performance improvements.

File Explorer​

• 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.
• 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.
• This update eliminates a grey flash on load and unexpected scrolling to the top on the Home page in certain cases.
• This update improves the appearance of file thumbnails in the Recommended section on the Home page so they’re crisper and easier to read.

Windows Search​

• This update improves app search to better handle typos and partial app names when finding installed apps.
• This update improves Settings relevance to surface more useful settings higher in search results.

Voice Access​

• 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:
  • Voice Isolation — Filters out other speakers and background noise (one-time voice setup required).
  • Remove background noise only — Filters out non-speech sounds like typing or door slams. No additional setup needed
  • No filtering — Default microphone input with no additional processing.
  • To set up Voice Isolation, go to Voice Access settings > Improve speech recognition and select Voice Isolation.
    
    
    

    Set Up Voice Isolation in Voice Access on Windows 11

    This tutorial will show you how to set up Voice isolation in Voice Access for your account in Windows 11. Voice access in Windows 11 enables everyone, including people with mobility disabilities, to control their PC and author text using their voice. For example, you can open and switch between...

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• New! This update adds Korean language support for voice access.
• This update improves the reliability of starting Voice Access.

Widgets​

• New! Taskbar notification badges now use your Windows accent color instead of appearing red, helping reduce unnecessary attention-grabbing alerts.
  
  
  

  Enable or Disable Notification Badges for Widgets on Taskbar in Windows 11

  This tutorial will show you how to turn on or off whether Widgets will show notification badging on the Widgets taskbar icon for your account in Windows 11. Widgets in Windows are interactive elements that display dynamic content and provide quick access to various apps and features. You can...

  www.elevenforum.com
• 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.
  
  
  

  Add and Remove Widgets on Lock Screen in Windows 11

  This tutorial will show you how to add and remove widgets on the lock screen for your account in Windows 11. You can stay informed and efficient with dynamic updates that bring weather, finance, sports, traffic, and app notifications right to your lock screen. Starting with Windows 11 build...

  www.elevenforum.com

Touchpad​

• New! New gesture controls for precision touchpads are available in Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Touchpad:
  • Scroll and zoom speed — Adjust the baseline speed for scroll and zoom gestures.
    
    
    

    Change Touchpad Scroll Speed in Windows 11

    This tutorial will show you how to change touchpad scroll speed for your account in Windows 11. Starting with Windows 11 build 26100.8973 (24H2), build 26200.8973 (25H2), and build 2800.2796 (RP 26H1) Microsoft is adding new gesturing-related functionality to precision touchpads in Settings...

    www.elevenforum.com
    

    Change Touchpad Zoom Speed in Windows 11

    This tutorial will show you how to change touchpad zoom speed for your account in Windows 11. Starting with Windows 11 build 26100.8973 (24H2), build 26200.8973 (25H2), and build 2800.2796 (RP 26H1), Microsoft is adding new gesturing-related functionality to precision touchpads in Settings. The...

    www.elevenforum.com
  • Accelerated scrolling — Scroll faster the more you repeat the gesture, so you can move quickly through long documents.
    
    
    

    Turn On or Off Accelerated Scrolling on Touchpad in Windows 11

    This tutorial will show you how to turn on or off accelerated scrolling on the touchpad for your account in Windows 11. Starting with Windows 11 build 26100.8973 (24H2), build 26200.8973 (25H2), and build 2800.2796 (RP 26H1), Microsoft is adding new gesturing-related functionality to precision...

    www.elevenforum.com

Start menu​

• The update improves the reliability of Start menu view preferences, ensuring your selected view is retained.
• This update improves keyboard navigation when keyboard focus was set to the apps list within Start menu.

Voice Typing​

• Fluid dictation is now off by default for new users. A teaching tip is also available when the feature is used for the first time.
  
  
  

  Enable or Disable Fluid Dictation in Voice Typing on Windows 11

  This tutorial will show you how to turn on or off the fluid dictation feature in voice typing for your account on Windows 11 Copilot+ PCs. Voice typing allows you to enter text on your PC by speaking. You can use voice typing commands to manually insert punctuation marks. Starting with...

  www.elevenforum.com

Input​

• This update improves persistence of mouse cursor size.

Windowing​

• This update ensures system dialogs open at the appropriate size on small tablets.

Accessibility​

• This 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.
  
  
  

  Enable or Disable Touch Bars on Touchscreen for Magnifier in Windows 11

  This tutorial will show you how to turn on or off showing touch bars for Magnifier when using a touchscreen device for your account in Windows 11. Magnifier makes part or all of your screen bigger so you can see words and images better. Starting with Windows 11 build 26100.8973 (24H2), build...

  www.elevenforum.com

Windows Hello​

• 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 and is now beginning to roll out.
  
  
  

  Enable or Disable Enhanced Sign-in Security in Windows 11

  This tutorial will show you how to enable or disable Enhanced Sign-in Security for all users in Windows 11. Windows Hello enables biometrics or PIN authentication, eliminating the need for a password. Biometric authentication uses facial recognition or fingerprint to prove a user's identity in...

  www.elevenforum.com

Fonts​

• This update restores support for Unicode variation sequences in the Myanmar Text font.
• This update improves character shaping and rendering for Mongolian Baiti font, providing more accurate and consistent text display.

Account Control​

• This 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
  
  
  

  Enable or Disable Notification Badging for Microsoft Accounts on Start menu in Windows 11

  This tutorial will show you how to enable or disable showing notification badging for Microsoft accounts on the Start menu and Settings for your account in Windows 10 and Windows 11. Starting with Windows 11 build 22621.1928, Microsoft expands the roll out of notification badging for Microsoft...

  www.elevenforum.com

Taskbar​

• This update improves reliability of loading the system tray area of the taskbar when using the taskbar on touch devices in a tablet posture.

AI Component​

• This update allows you to remove the Image Generation AI component from supported Copilot+ PCs where the component is installed.
  
  
  

  Uninstall AI Components on Windows 11 PC

  This tutorial will show you how to uninstall AI components on your Windows 11 PC. If your Windows 11 device (ex: Copilot+ PC) has a NPU, you will have a System > AI components page in Settings. AI components are used on Copilot+ PCs and enable AI models to run locally, directly on the device...

  www.elevenforum.com

Windows Setup​

• This update adds parental controls notice during Windows setup that highlights available family safety features.

Power and Battery​

• This 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.
• This update restores the ability to set a threshold for when energy saver should enable within Settings > System > Power & Battery.
  
  
  

  Change When to Put Computer to Sleep Timeout in Windows 11

  This tutorial will show you how to change how long after your computer is inactive (idle) before automatically put to sleep in Windows 11. Sleep uses very little power, your PC starts up faster, and you’re instantly back to where you left off. You don’t have to worry that you'll lose your work...

  www.elevenforum.com
  

  Change Computer Hibernate after Idle Timeout in Windows 11

  This tutorial will show you how to change how long after your computer is inactive (idle) before automatically enters hibernation in Windows 11. Hibernate was designed for laptops and might not be available for all PCs. (For example, PCs with Modern Standby may not have the hibernate option.)...

  www.elevenforum.com
  

  Change Power Button Action in Windows 11

  This tutorial will show you how to change the default action to take when pressing the power button in Windows 10 and Windows 11. The power button action setting lets users specify the default action to take when the system hardware power button on the PC is pressed. Users can specify one of...

  www.elevenforum.com
  

  Change Sleep Button Action in Windows 11

  This tutorial will show you how to change the default action to take when pressing the sleep button in Windows 10 and Windows 11. The sleep button action setting lets users specify the default action to take when the system hardware sleep button (if available) on the PC is pressed. Users can...

  www.elevenforum.com
  

  Change Lid Close Action in Windows 11

  This tutorial will show you how to change the default action to take when closing the lid of your laptop in Windows 10 and Windows 11. The lid switch close action specifies the action to take when the system lid is closed. Users can specify one of the following actions to take: Do Nothing =...

  www.elevenforum.com

Windows Update​

• This update improves the calculation of update progression in Windows Update Settings.
• This update includes changes to update clean-up logic to improve system performance immediately following an update.

Sounds​

• This update improves system sounds when using Windows in dark mode.

Date and Time​

• This update improves detection for triggering time zone change notifications.
• 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).

Network​

• This 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.

Print​

• This update improves print time performance (page per minute) for IPPS (Internet Printing Protocol Secure) printers.

Clipboard​

• This update improves clipboard reliability in some Remote Desktop and Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) scenarios.

General Reliability​

• 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.
• This update improves the reliability of 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.

1 Feature availability varies by device and market.



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.

Graphics​

• This update improves HDR display reliability on some Surface devices with Arm64 processors, helping the built-in display work as expected when HDR is enabled.

Pointer​

• This update improves touchpad reliability on some devices, helping touchpad gestures and mouse-drag actions respond as expected.

If you installed earlier updates, your device downloads and installs only the new updates contained in this package.

Components updates​

AI components
This release updates the following AI components to version 1.2607.840.0: Image Search, Content Extraction, Semantic Analysis, and Settings Model.

To learn more, see Release information for AI components.

Servicing stack update (SSU)
Includes KB5120995 (Build 28000.2801), which improves the reliability of the Windows update installation process. To learn more about SSUs, see Simplifying on-premises deployment of servicing stack updates.

Known issues in this update​

Microsoft is not currently aware of any issues with this update.

How to get this update​

Before you install this update

Microsoft combines the latest servicing stack update (SSU) for your operating system with the latest cumulative update (LCU). For general information about SSUs, see Servicing stack updates.

Deployment​

If you deploy dynamic updates such as this update to an existing Windows image, ensure the boot.stl file is included as part of the installation media. Failure to include the file might prevent devices from successfully starting from the installation media and can result in error code 0xc0430001.

Note: The boot.stl file is used during Secure Boot validation and must match the Windows version and architecture of the image you are updating.
To ensure the boot.stl file is included as part of the installation media, do one of the following:

• Use the Update WinPE script to update an existing Windows image. (Recommended)
• Manually copy the boot.stl file from the device Windows\Boot\EFI folder to the corresponding folder on your installation media before deploying the update.

For information about how to apply Dynamic Update packages to existing Windows images, see Update Windows installation media with Dynamic Update.

Install this update​

To install this update, use one of the following Windows and Microsoft release channels.

File information​

For a list of the files provided in this update, download the file information for cumulative update KB5120996

For a list of the files provided in the servicing stack update, download the file information for the SSU (KB5120995) - version 28000.2801.





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