With that said, we would also like to remind our audience that you can now no longer switch to the Beta channel from the Dev channel since they are both now separately again. Build 25120 introduced one new experimental feature, along with several fixes. However, it still has a few known issues that you should consider before installing this release. Furthermore, Microsoft has also released its ISO image, which you can download using the given guide below, then use it to perform a clean install. Windows 11 Build 25120 is also being offered to ARM64 devices, unlike the last release.
New in Windows 11 Build 25120
Experimental Search Widget on Desktop
Note: This feature is currently not available to every insider.
New in Windows 11 Build 25120 Experimental Search Widget on Desktop Other Improvements and Fixes Known Issues How to Install Windows 11 Build 25120 Windows Update Download Windows 11 Build 25120 ISO Image Rollback/Remove Windows 11 Insider Preview Update Cleanup After Installing Windows Updates
Microsoft is now experimenting with new concepts in the Windows operating system. With this flight, they introduced a new floating widget located right in the center of your desktop. This is a search widget that allows you to explore the Bing web search conveniently. Remember that this is an experimental feature and could be removed by Microsoft. Therefore, the feature’s existence relies on your, the Insider’s, feedback. To provide feedback, use the Feedback Hub. To get this new search bar, install the build and then restart your computer. If you do not see this automatically after the reboot, you might not be one of the chosen ones just yet. However, if this feature continues to stay, you will surely receive it on a future flight. That said, if you do not want this search widget, you can get rid of it by right-clicking on a blank space on the desktop, clicking “Show more options,” and then toggling “Show search.”
Other Improvements and Fixes
Other changes and fixes have also been made with this flight:
[Suggested Actions]Suggested Actions should now appear for more date and time formats.Any issues with certain formats when copying the date and/or time have been addressed.The performance and reliability of the feature has been improved.[Settings]An issue that could crash the Settings app when opening and looking at the battery usage graph has been fixed.The performance of displaying the Wi-Fi networks after enabling Wi-Fi from the Wi-Fi section of Quick Settings has been improved.[Task Manager]An issue leading to unreadable text on the Performance page when a contrast theme is enabled has been taken care of.[Other]An issue that could cause Windows Update to stall and roll back updates for WSA users has been fixed.Some work has been done to address a stutter in the progress wheel animation when upgrading to a new build.
Microsoft intimates its users that some of these fixes might make their way to servicing updates for Windows 11. With that, let us now see the issues that accompany this flight.
Known Issues
[General]Some games that use Easy Anti-Cheat may crash or cause your PC to bugcheck.[Live captions]When using certain apps in full-screen mode (e.g., video players), live captions may not appear.If apps are positioned near the top of the screen and closed before live captions run, they will re-launch behind the live captions window positioned at the top. If you experience these issues, use the system menu (ALT + Spacebar) while the app has focus to move the app’s window further down.
How to Install Windows 11 Build 25120
To install this update, you either need to be running Windows 11 and subscribed to the Dev channel, or perform a clean install using the ISO image provided by Microsoft.
Windows Update
If you have enabled Windows updates, you will automatically get a “New features are ready to install” prompt. Follow the steps below to upgrade to this build: Once the computer restarts, you can verify that the OS has been updated by typing in winver in the Run Command box. Click Download and install.
Download Windows 11 Build 25120 ISO Image
You can also download the ISO image for Windows 11 Build 25120 and perform a clean install. Here is how: You are now set to perform a fresh installation of Windows 11 Dev Build 22598 using the downloaded ISO image. Learn how to create a multiboot USB installation media using Ventoy.
Rollback/Remove Windows 11 Insider Preview Update
If you do not wish to keep the installed preview update for some reason, you can always roll back to the previous build of the OS. However, this can only be performed within the next 10 days after installing the new update. To roll back after 10 days, you will need to apply this trick.
Cleanup After Installing Windows Updates
If you want to save space after installing Windows updates, you can run the following commands one after the other in Command Prompt with administrative privileges:
