Microsoft's biggest services are all facing major outages right now. Outlook, Teams, Copilot, OneDrive, and Azure all appear to be affected. The issues have lasted at least 18 hours, though there are now some signs of improvement.

According to DownDetector, tens of thousands of users are affected by the outage for each Microsoft service. Around 1:15 PM ET, there were nearly 130,000 reports. There are now fewer than 10,000 reports of issues with Microsoft services.

The full impact is likely much broader than indicated by DownDetector. The outages became front-page news and affected productivity across a broad range of industries.

Initially, services from Google, Steam, Cloudflare, and AWS appeared to have outages coinciding with Microsoft's issues. Spokespersons from AWS and Cloudflare reached out to me to clarify that their respective services were not down.

When this many services experience outages simultaneously, there is likely a common underlying cause, but we're still awaiting confirmation of what's behind the issues.

Chatter on social media suggests that the cause of the outages is complex and resistant to repair, though it will likely be weeks before we get a detailed report of what happened.

The Microsoft 365 Status account on X is providing updated information on the outages.

This is already one of the worst outages in recent memory. One of my colleagues received an email this morning calling the Microsoft outages "the biggest IT event in history." That's a bold claim, but the issues rank among the worst I've ever seen.

Charles Lamanna, EVP of Copilot, Agents, and Platform at Microsoft, confirmed that there is "no indication this is the result of malicious or cyber activity."

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The engine that powers Copilot Chat in Visual Studio just got an upgrade. Microsoft says the new experience can complete more coding tasks despite using the same AI models as before. The updated Copilot experience now uses the same technology that powers GitHub Copilot CLI, the GitHub Copilot app, and VS Code.

Microsoft tested the new and old Copilot experiences by having each perform 157 coding tasks. The new engine resolved up to 21 more tasks, completing 124 tasks compared to 103 for the older experience.

Tests were performed on C# projects across .NET Framework and .NET Core, Azure and Aspire, and WinForms and desktop apps. Microsoft also tested the new engine on C++, Python, and other languages.

Generally, developers don't judge AI by whether it can answer a question. They judge it by whether it actually saves time. If Copilot can fix a bug, review code, find an issue, or complete a task in fewer attempts, it provides real value to developers. Microsoft says that's exactly what's happening.

Developers often spend as much time verifying AI-generated code as they do writing it. If Copilot can complete more tasks correctly on the first attempt, it can save quite a bit of time.

If you've ever used ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, or another AI tool, you've likely run into the same problem. AI tools have a habit of sending users down the wrong path. The difference between a useful AI response and an almost useful AI response is often several minutes spent rewriting prompts, correcting mistakes, or double-checking information.

The new Copilot Chat has several new capabilities, such as allowing you to type a new instruction while it is in the middle of a task. Copilot will also show the results of actions it takes rather than simply listing attempted steps.

If a task is handled by a subagent, Copilot will show a dedicated card that lists every step taken as it occurs.

Microsoft argues the updated Copilot experience makes developers more productive by providing shorter, more focused responses and completing more tasks successfully. The company also says the new experience handles larger and more complex jobs more effectively, which could mean less time spent cleaning up AI output before a project is ready.

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If you have an Outlook, Hotmail, Live, or MSN email address, don't assume every missing email ended up in your spam folder. A recent issue caused some messages sent to those types of email addresses to be rejected and bounced back to senders instead of reaching recipients.

It might seem like a nice break to not get emails for a few days, missing important messages can cause issues. The underlying cause was a mistake related to spam enforcement rules. Microsoft has rolled back the update that included the problem, so normal functionality should be restored.

"Some users may intermittently be unable to send email messages to Outlook.com, Hotmail.com, or Live.com email addresses," explained Microsoft in an incident report highlighted by the website lazyadmin.

While the issue was related to spam enforcement rules, affected messages did not simply end up in recipients' spam folders. Microsoft's mail servers rejected the emails and bounced them back to senders instead.

That's an important distinction because recipients have no way to find emails that were never delivered. If you were expecting an important message over the last few days and it never arrived, it may be worth following up with the sender rather than digging through your spam folder.

The issue may also have gone unnoticed in some cases. If someone claims they emailed you recently but nothing ever arrived in your inbox, there's a chance the message was affected by the bug and returned to the sender before reaching your account.

Senders may be able to determine if they were affected by checking for non-delivery reports, sometimes called bounce messages. Errors mentioning Outlook.com, Hotmail.com, Live.com, MSN.com, or codes such as "550 5.7.1" and "AS9031519" could indicate that a message was rejected during the incident.

A successful resend also does not necessarily mean there was never a problem. Reports from affected users suggested the issue was intermittent, with some messages bouncing initially before being delivered successfully when sent again later.

I occasionally need to check my spam filter to find messages that were mistakenly flagged as spam. This happens more when work emails are involved, but Outlook can be overly aggressive with personal emails as well.

But this bug was different. Instead of being delivered to a spam folder, some messages never reached recipients at all.

The issue was primarily related to mail destined for consumer Microsoft email accounts, including Outlook.com, Hotmail, Live, and MSN addresses. Microsoft 365 business mailboxes were not the focus of the reported delivery failures.

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The Logitech MX Master 4 Developer Edition just started shipping, and I have one on my desk to try out. The mouse is an ode to developers covered with Easter eggs and nods to programming.

This mouse is one of the first to support Windows 11 haptics, which lets you feel Windows 11 through subtle physical feedback. That functionality is not exclusive to the developer edition, so you can take advantage of haptics if you prefer to grab the black or white versions of the Logitech MX Master 4.

I've only had the Logitech MX Master 4 Developer Edition for a bit, so I can't judge it fully. So far, the mouse has impressed me throughout full work days.

But one thing has stood out to me so far: this mouse is basically a fidget spinner. Its vertical scroll wheel can toggle between ratchet or smooth scrolling. You can even set the mouse to switch between those modes depending on force.

Your thumb rests just below a horizontal scroll wheel when using the mouse. That is also fun to spin when I'm bored. It also scrolls horizontally, but that's a feature I only use occasionally.

Add in a haptic side panel that buzzes when pressed and displays a ring of shortcuts, and you have a surprisingly great fidget tool for your desk.

Early impressions

This mouse is the first device I've used that supports Windows 11 haptics. That feature, which provides physical bumps when you perform certain actions, has been fun to play with.

I've used a Logitech MX mouse for years, but it's been the Logitech MX Vertical on my desk. That mouse is excellent, and I still recommend it to those who want an ergonomic mouse, but having used the Logitech MX Master 4, there are features I'd love to see Logitech bring over to its ergonomic line.

I've been surprised by how much I use the horizontal scroll wheel of the Logitech MX Master 4. I usually just hold Shift and use the vertical scroll wheel to navigate horizontally. But the horizontal scroll wheel is perfectly placed on the Logitech MX Master 4, making them easier to use and more comfortable.

The Logitech MX Master 4 has a bit more of a thunk than a click, which I prefer. I also like the matte plastic finish of the Logitech MX Master 4.

None of this is surprising since the Logitech MX Master 4 earned a near-perfect score from our friends at Tom's Guide. The version of the mouse I have is identical in terms of features and overall design. What makes it stand out are its Easter eggs, such as syntax annotations and markup tags that are laser-etched onto the mouse.

I've often said I can't go back to using a flat mouse since relying on the Logitech MX Vertical. I still prefer the vertical design of that mouse over the flatter layout of the Logitech MX Master 4, but I prefer the features and build of the latter. My perfect mouse would be a combination of the two.

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We're just over one week from the release of GTA VI. After years of delays and rumors, Rockstar's iconic franchise is back. Some analysts suspect there will be a record number of sick days in mid-November on the day GTA VI launches, but employees at Logitech won't be part of that wave.

According to Fortune, a new initiative by Logitech called "Logi Game Day" allows employees to take a day off work to play a game.

Logi Game Day is not actually a specific day. It's also not set aside exclusively for GTA VI. Logitech employees can take off any individual day over the next year to play the game of their choosing.

It's unlikely that the timing of the initiative is a coincidence. At least one expert estimates that the launch of GTA VI will cost $1 billion in productivity in the United States.

Rather than trying to squeeze productivity out of distracted employees eager to go home and play GTA VI, Logitech leaned into the skid and gave people the green light to take off work.

"It’s time to retire the stereotype that gaming is a waste of time,” said Hanneke Faber, Logitech’s chief executive officer. “As a company designing products for work and play, we see every day how engagement in one sphere supports performance in the other."

Times are definitely changing, and I'd argue it's for the better. When I grew up, it was common knowledge that little got done during the NCAA basketball tournament, but people would have scoffed at similar dips in productivity caused by a video game launch.

Of course, we don't all work for Logitech and may have to work on GTA VI launch day.

While most of us won't be getting a dedicated gaming holiday from our employer, there are still ways to squeeze in some GTA VI during a lunch break or while away from your console. GTA VI will not be playable through Xbox Cloud Gaming, but it will support Xbox Remote Play. That means you could squeeze in some playtime on a PC or mobile device by streaming from an Xbox or PlayStation console.

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Windows 11's desktop will soon look different on your PC, and I'm not talking about the refreshed Start menu or the upgrades to the taskbar in the works. Microsoft reportedly has new default wallpapers in the works for Windows 11, and they're a bigger deal than they might initially seem.

I cover wallpapers a lot, sometimes with a hint of sarcastic enthusiasm. But Microsoft making new default wallpapers for Windows is significant.

Our Senior Editor Zac Bowden discussed the new wallpapers in the latest episode of the Windows Central Podcast. When Microsoft creates new default wallpapers for Windows, it usually signals either a new major version of Windows, such as Windows 12, or a major refresh of the current release. According to Bowden and the initial report from The Verge on the topic, the latter is far more likely.

There will reportedly be separate editions of the wallpaper for different versions of Windows 11, such as Windows 11 Pro and commercial versions of the OS.

We've already seen the default Windows 11 wallpaper refreshed a few times. Microsoft created a special version of the wallpaper for Copilot+ PCs and a variant for the company's 50th anniversary. While the new wallpapers that will ship in 2027 are a bit similar to Bloom, they are not simply color swaps or small tweaks. They're new images rather than just variants of Bloom.

At one point in time, Microsoft planned to ship major releases of Windows every three years, but those plans changed with the departure of Panos Panay. Microsoft released the AI-focused update to Windows 11 after the operating system had been around for three years. It appears that another major update is on the way in 2027 rather than Windows 12.

Bowden dove deeper into why Microsoft is not likely to ship Windows 12 next year. But I'm a simple man: I see nice wallpapers and I focus on those. I spent weeks hunting down the RTX Spark wallpaper and now have it set on my desktop.

The new Windows 11 wallpapers should come out with an update in 2027, but I suspect they'll leak on the web before then. You can already grab one of them now despite Microsoft not even announcing its plans for next year.

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After years and years of anticipation, GTA VI will finally ship this week. In fact, the game may have already pre-loaded on your console if you pre-ordered it. Regardless of whether you pre-load the game or download it later, it will take up a lot of storage.

Rockstar says you need up to 212GB free to pre-load GTA VI, depending on your device.

With the game being so large, you'll likely want additional storage so you can install GTA VI without clearing out other games to make space.

The good news is that the XBOX Series X and XBOX Series S support seamless storage expansion. The bad news is that stock of supported cards is extremely limited.

You may be able to find select individual XBOX storage cards in stock, but the only one I've been able to find available online consistently is the 2TB SANDISK Optimus GX C50 Xbox Storage Expansion Card.

Is the SANDISK Optimus GX C50 a good XBOX storage card?

The SANDISK Optimus GX C50 is the WD_BLACK C50 Storage Expansion Card under a new name. If you search for the old WD_BLACK card on SANDISK's website, you'll see a prompt explaining the change (shown above).

Regardless of the name, the performance of the card is excellent. The SANDISK Optimus GX C50 fully supports features like Xbox Quick Resume. You can quickly transfer games back and forth between the card and your console as well.

In short, using the SANDISK Optimus GX C50 should feel exactly like having a game stored directly on your XBOX Series X|S.

Unless you care about the graphics and logo on the card, you can take a deeper dive into the SANDISK Optimus GX C50 by reading our WD_BLACK C50 Storage Expansion Card review. I'll warn you that doing so may make you cry when you see the launch price of that card.

Is now a good time to buy XBOX storage?

If you haven't shopped for a console or gaming accessories for a while, you're likely shocked by the price of additional storage. The $479.99 price of the 2TB SANDISK Optimus GX C50 is more than an XBOX Series X cost just a few years ago if you found a good deal.

The XBOX Series X launched at $499.99, but for years it was easy to find one for less. Heck, Verizon used to literally give them away if you signed up for broadband. But like laptops and other gadgets, gaming devices have skyrocketed in price over the years due to the global component shortage.

So, through the twisted lens of current gaming prices, you could almost say that $479.99 is a "fair" price for 2TB of storage. Maybe a better way to say it would be to call it an "expected" price.

With GTA VI pre-loading on consoles starting November 10 and the game launching on November 19, now is the perfect time to expand the storage of your XBOX Series X|S.

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The first mini PC powered by a Snapdragon X2 Elite is now available in Europe. The ASUS Ascent QN10 launched in the United States back in September, and it is now for sale in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

Thanks to the Snapdragon X2 Elite inside, the Ascent QN10 has an NPU with 80 TOPS that can handle language models, image processing, and automation workflows.

Unlike many mini PCs, the Ascent QN10 has an anodized aluminum chassis rather than a plastic one. That 0.7-liter body is 13 x 13 x 4 cm (5.1 x 5.1 x 1.5 inches), meaning it should fit comfortably on a desk or tucked away.

The Snapdragon X2 Elite is the star of the show, but the Ascent QN10 has some other tricks. For example, it is designed to keep heat from its CPU and SSD separate. The mini PC takes fresh air in from one side, then splits it.

Despite recently launching in Europe, the ASUS Ascent QN10 is already discounted in some countries. The PC has an MSRP of €2,195, but it is currently available for €2,005 on ARLT (German retailer).

There have been consumer mini PCs with Arm processors, but the Ascent QN10 is the first with a Snapdragon X2 Elite. The mini PC from ASUS stands out from many competing devices thanks to its metal body, processor, and cooling.

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"Do you want to turn on Sticky Keys?" has likely popped up on your PC at some point. That prompt appears after you press the Shift key five times and allows you to enable the feature. Soon, Windows 11 will make it easier to stop that message from appearing.

In one of the latest Windows Insider builds, Microsoft introduced an updated version of the prompt. Windows 11 will soon let you permanently disable the Sticky Keys shortcut directly from the prompt itself.

The same change is also coming to the prompt used for Filter Keys, another accessibility feature that can be enabled through a keyboard shortcut.

Windows 11 already lets you disable that shortcut, but it requires a couple of extra steps. Within Settings, you need to navigate to Accessibility > Keyboard > Sticky Keys. That section has other controls, such as turning off Sticky Keys when two keys are pressed at the same time.

The current Windows 11 prompt includes a quick link to that section of the Settings app, but the process will soon be streamlined. The updated prompt still includes a shortcut to all Sticky Keys settings.

Sticky Keys is a useful feature that improves accessibility. It lets you press one key at a time instead of holding multiple keys at once. For example, instead of pressing Ctrl + Alt + Delete simultaneously, you can press Ctrl, then Alt, then Delete.

The shortcut to enable Sticky Keys by pressing Shift five times has been part of Windows for decades. While useful, it can be triggered accidentally. Last week, I was in a creative program and pressed Shift five times as part of my normal workflow and accidentally summoned the prompt to enable Sticky Keys.

I took the opportunity to disable the shortcut through the Settings app, but soon that won't be necessary since the prompt will include a check box that prevents it from appearing again.

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When faced with a RAM shortage and dropping PC sales, companies have limited options. PC makers can't do much to increase the supply of memory chips in the short term, and expanding production takes time. That leaves app makers and developers under pressure to make their software more memory-efficient.

Microsoft led the charge recently in optimizing apps for systems with less RAM, though Discord also made a strong effort by ditching Electron. Everything from Windows 11 features to built-in Microsoft apps have been upgraded to use less RAM.

Microsoft is enforcing "memory budgets," such as restricting PCs with 8GB of RAM from having bloatware.

My question is, why did it take a RAM crisis for Microsoft, Discord, or any other company to care about efficiency?

Biggest News of the Week

With Microsoft and third-party developers working to make apps more efficient, PCs with only 8GB of RAM should perform better (though it's worth noting 8GB of RAM is already fine for some workflows). It's a welcome change, but I can't help but wonder why it's needed.

The latest version of Windows 11 proves that the operating system can run more efficiently than what we had even just a few months ago.

A lot of factors contributed to Windows 11 getting too bloated and RAM-hungry. The operating system has grown significantly since launch, adding features and expanding preexisting functionality. It seems that much of that growth happened without RAM overhead being a priority.

There also wasn't as much pressure to optimize apps until the RAM shortage kicked in. RAM was relatively inexpensive and many systems allowed you to upgrade later if you ever needed more memory.

Just as one example, back in 2023 we covered a deal that dropped the Corsair Vengeance 32GB 5200MHz to $180. Back then, it was noteworthy because the same module had previously cost $250. That price remained stable until about September 2025.

Now, that same RAM costs over $500.

Considering the relatively low cost of even a 32GB DDR5 RAM module back then, Windows 11 could chug along while eating up memory without affecting performance.

Now, out of necessity, Microsoft needs to optimize Windows 11 and as many apps as possible to reduce the total RAM demand across the PC industry. If companies like Discord hop on board, all the better.

Shopping with Sean

Due to the ongoing RAM shortage, it is increasingly difficult to find PCs with 16GB of RAM paired with premium specs for under $1,000. The current discount on the Acer Swift 16 AI slashes $550 off a laptop that can handle local AI workloads and creative work like video and photo editing. It also has an OLED panel our friends at Tom's Guide called its "standout feature" due to its sharp image quality and 120Hz refresh rate.

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Windows Insiders have a bunch of new builds to check out. Microsoft released five Insider builds to wrap up the week, and they include everything from tiny changes and fixes to a massive update to Magnifier.

Rather than stretching a single magnified view across all of your displays, Magnifier will remember distinct zoom percentages to each monitor.

Magnifier also has a new contrast theme to reduce glare. This is different from the color inversion. Magnifier's contrast theme leaves photos, charts, and videos untouched.

This release of Windows Insider builds also serve as a reminder that Microsoft is reducing that amount of storage that comes with a Microsoft 365 Family plan. Of course, Microsoft does not phrase it that way, but it's true.

The build shipping to Beta channel Insiders adds a section in the Settings app that shows how much shared storage is used across your Microsoft 365 Family plan. That plan currently includes up to 6TB of OneDrive storage spread across six users. That will soon be reduced to 2TB of OneDrive storage shared across the entire family.

Windows Update (Beta)

• With this update, the Beta channel moves to Windows 11, version 26H2, with the build number increasing to Build 26320. You shouldn't expect any significant change from this build number increase alone, as it's delivered via an enablement package (eKB) update.

Windows Search (Beta, Beta (26H1))

• New Windows Search experience with inline actions: A new Windows Search experience built on WinUI 3 is beginning to roll out. It's faster, more efficient, and features a streamlined design that makes results easier to scan. Inline actions let you quickly complete tasks directly. Turn on dark mode or Bluetooth, adjust your screen brightness, mute your device, or arrange windows from Windows Search.
• Windows Search is improving how it understands what you're looking for, including better matching for typos and synonyms. These improvements will continue to be fine-tuned over the coming weeks. For more information about the changes, check out the Windows Insider Blog.
• English is the only supported language for this initial release.

Live captions (Beta, Experimental)

• Live captions now gives you control over what gets transcribed. Previously, captions used system audio, with an option to add your microphone. Now you can choose system audio, your microphone, or both, so captions follow the sound you care about. Caption an in-person conversation without picking up system audio, or follow audio from your PC during a meeting or while watching a video.

Gaming (Beta)

• Quick settings is coming to the Gaming Task View navigation bar in XBOX mode, giving you access to the full set of Quick settings available on the Windows taskbar without having to leave XBOX mode.

Web sign-in (Beta)

• Web sign-in now works on Microsoft Entra hybrid joined devices. Before this update, it was only available on Microsoft Entra joined devices. You can sign in to Windows at the lock screen with a passwordless credential: a FIDO2 security key, a passkey on your phone, or a Temporary Access Pass (TAP). You don't need a password. Once you're signed in, Windows gets a Kerberos ticket, so on-premises file shares and internal sites keep working. For more information, see Use web sign-in to enable passwordless sign-in in Windows.

Windows Hello (Beta, Experimental (26H1)))

• Windows Hello facial recognition can temporarily brighten your screen to help you sign in when you're in a dark or dimly lit room.
• To turn on this feature, go to Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options > Facial recognition (Windows Hello) and turn on Automatically adjust screen brightness during face recognition.

Windows Hello (Experimental)

• Sign-in and unlock now behave more consistently and give clearer guidance. You no longer have to wait for face or fingerprint recognition to finish before entering your PIN. Use whichever method works first. At certain times, such as after a restart, you'll need your PIN first. After that, biometrics work as usual.
  • New Windows Hello events let IT admins see how users sign in. The sign-in experience doesn't change. In Event Viewer > Windows Logs > Security, event 4628 records the Windows Hello methods a user has set up and which method they used to sign in (PIN, face, fingerprint, or no Windows Hello). Event 4629 records failed Windows Hello sign-in attempts. Both events use the existing Audit Logon policy.
  • For troubleshooting, events 5010 and 7010 in Event Viewer > Applications and Services Logs > Microsoft > Windows > HelloForBusiness > Operational record each Windows Hello sign-in and unlock, along with the result.

Input (Beta)

• The dialogs that ask whether you'd like to turn on Sticky Keys or Filter Keys are being updated, making it easier to dismiss these prompts permanently. If you don't use these keyboard features, you can choose not to be asked again directly from the dialog, helping you continue what you're doing with fewer interruptions.

Input (Experimental)

• Live captions now gives you control over what gets transcribed. Previously, captions used system audio, with an option to add your microphone. In Live captions settings, you can now choose system audio, your microphone, or both, so captions follow the sound you care about. Caption an in-person conversation without picking up system audio, or follow audio from your PC during a meeting or while watching a video.

Settings (Beta)

• Windows Settings now contains shared storage usage across Microsoft 365 Family subscriptions. A breakdown for each family member is coming soon. If your subscription was purchased after October 8, 2026, you can check the view by going to Settings > Accounts > Cloud storage. If your subscription was purchased before October 8, 2026, this view will be available for you after the first subscription renewal on or after May 2, 2027. Learn more about the changes to Microsoft 365 storage.

Settings (Experimental)

• Discover your account benefits in Settings. It's now easier to discover the benefits and services available with your Microsoft account, right in Windows Settings.

File Explorer

• The Address Bar now supports ~, making it quicker to navigate directly to your user profile folder and subfolders, for example, ~\AppData.

File Explorer (Beta (26H1))

• PDF and non-HTML files downloaded from the web can now be previewed automatically in the Preview pane.

Math equations in Braille with Narrator (Experimental)

• Building on Narrator's math reading and navigation support, the experience is expanding to refreshable Braille displays. When Narrator reads supported equations in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Edge, or Google Chrome, Narrator Math is now shown on your connected Braille display, letting you explore them by touch while listening to Narrator.
• Math is at the heart of STEM education and learning, and this update helps students and professionals independently read, understand, and explore equations, formulas, and scientific notation with confidence.
• You can choose a math format in Braille without changing your default Braille output table. Supported math output formats include Nemeth (default), UEB, CMU, Vietnamese, Swedish, LaTeX, and ASCIIMath. In Narrator Math settings, you can also customize the reading language, speech behavior, and navigation preferences.

Magnifier (Beta (26H1))

• More and more of the work people do happens across more than one screen. You draft on one display and keep source material open on another. You fill in a form while a reference document sits beside it. Those extra displays can be more helpful when each one can do its own job, and now Magnifier supports exactly that.
• To use this update, set your monitors to Extend in System > Display, not Duplicate, so Windows treats each screen as its own space.
• Every screen keeps its own view at its own zoom. In earlier versions of Magnifier, zooming in stretched a single magnified view across all of your displays, so one screen's zoom followed you everywhere and screen edges blurred together. With this update, each monitor's boundary is respected, and each monitor can have its own zoom percentage. Your writing screen can be at 300% while your reference screen stays at 150%, and the magnified view no longer spills from one display into the next. This behavior matters because different tasks and screen resolutions often require different levels of magnification to remain comfortable to read.

Setting the zoom on each screen is easy. Choose whichever method feels natural:

• Move your mouse pointer onto the screen you want to adjust, then press Windows key + Plus (+) or Windows key + Minus (-), or hold Ctrl + Alt and rotate your mouse wheel.
• Set the percentages directly in Accessibility > Magnifier.
• Drag the Magnifier toolbar onto a specific screen to adjust that screen from its on-screen controls.
• Per-monitor zoom is turned on by default. If you prefer the classic behavior where a single zoom spans all of your displays, you can turn per-monitor zoom off at any time from either the Magnifier toolbar or Accessibility > Magnifier. You can turn it back on whenever you like.
  • As you move your mouse from screen to screen, the magnified view naturally follows your pointer. Sometimes this might cause you to lose sight of the content that you're actively working on.
  • Viewport locking keeps that view in place. For example, you might be drafting an email based on a section of a document open on another display. Position that display so the paragraph you need is in view, press Ctrl + Windows key + K, and the screen holds its view steady while you move your cursor over to write. The locked screen stays fully live and interactive, so you can glance back, click, or copy from it whenever you need to, and its view stays put until you release it.
  • A message appears on the screen when it's locked, so you always know what's being held. To lock or unlock a screen, point your mouse at that screen and press Ctrl + Windows key + K again. To release everything at once, press Windows key + Esc to dismiss all locks. To use a different key combination, you can switch the lock shortcut to Ctrl + Alt + P in Accessibility > Magnifier.

Magnifier new contrast theme

• A new contrast theme toggle for a lower-glare screen. If bright screens are uncomfortable, many people use color inversion to reduce glare. However, inversion changes everything on screen, including photos, charts, and videos. With this update, Magnifier introduces a new contrast theme toggle.
• Reduce glare with a single toggle. Turn on a contrast theme directly from the Magnifier toolbar for a more comfortable viewing experience.
• Choose the contrast theme that works best for you. The dark theme is applied by default, and you can choose which contrast theme the toggle uses under Settings > Accessibility > Magnifier.
• Photos, videos, and charts keep their original colors. Unlike color inversion, the contrast theme recolors the interface without touching your photos, charts, or videos, so they keep their real colors.
• Color inversion is still here. This isn't a replacement. If you use inversion today, it works exactly as it always has. The contrast theme is a separate, purpose-built option to reduce glare when you want a darker interface without inverting colors.

Manage camera, microphone, and location access for desktop apps (Experimental (Future Platforms)

• Windows Insiders can now manage camera, microphone, and location permissions for individual desktop apps. Previously, access for traditional desktop applications was managed through a single device-wide setting.
• With this update, you can review and control access on an app-by-app basis, giving you greater visibility into which apps are requesting access to sensitive resources and more control over your privacy choices. These controls make privacy permissions easier to understand and manage across the wide range of desktop apps you use every day.

What's changing

• Allow or deny access for each desktop app individually.
• Go to Settings > Privacy & security > Camera, Microphone, or Location to review and manage permissions.
• Apps that haven't yet accessed a resource prompt for permission the first time access is requested.

What stays the same

• Existing app permission decisions are preserved.
• Apps previously granted access continue to have access.
• Apps previously denied access remain denied.
• No action is required, and no settings are reset.
• Existing enterprise policies continue to function as designed. We're exploring additional management capabilities.

Notes

• Most desktop apps appear with clear app attribution. However, some apps that rely on shared system components, browser-hosted experiences, or similar technologies might appear under a different name than expected.
• Some desktop apps might appear as Unsigned if Windows can't verify publisher information. Only grant access to apps you recognize and trust.

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A free tool with a bit of a strange name will let you know what's using the GPU on your PC. Microsoft engineer Scott Hanselman created gputaskman to show more details than Windows 11's built-in tools.

Task Manager can show per-process GPU usage and memory consumption, but it provides limited insight into exactly how applications are using GPU resources. You can see more information in the Details tab, but that still fails to paint a full picture.

The gputaskman app shows information for individual processes, such as GPU usage and VRAM consumption. Rather than simply showing that GPU memory is in use, gputaskman can help pinpoint whether that memory is being consumed by an AI model, a web browser, desktop rendering, or another process.

It can also identify local AI workloads and display details about running LLMs, including information about model memory usage and related GPU resources. The app displays GPU temperature as well.

Hanselman explained the app's purpose on the gputaskman GitHub page:

"Task Manager says '15 GB used.' This tries to answer: by what? Model weights? KV cache? Your browser? The desktop compositor? And why is so much GPU memory in system RAM?"

The app is still in the early stages of development. Hanselman has invited people on X to create pull requests. Right now, gputaskman supports Windows PCs with AMD or NVIDIA GPUs. Hanselman said in a follow-up post that the goal is to work on the Surface Laptop Ultra and other RTX Spark and Windows on Arm devices.

Microsoft's recently announced Hybrid intelligence initiative combines on-device AI processing with cloud-based AI services. As more AI tasks run locally on PCs, users may want better visibility into how those workloads affect GPU memory and performance. Tools such as gputaskman provide a detailed look at which processes, models, and applications are consuming GPU resources.

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The Discord app will soon use less RAM and power, all without losing a single feature. Discord is rebuilding its desktop app in Rust, replacing the Electron-based client it uses today. Discord has used Rust in parts of its technology stack for years, but the desktop application itself has historically been built on Electron.

The new app is faster and more efficient, as demonstrated by Discord CTO Stanislav Vishnevskiy. He showed the current Discord app and the new Rust client of Discord on a pair of Lenovo ThinkPads running Windows 11.

In that side-by-side comparison, the new Rust-based client launched more quickly than the current Electron version.

Electron apps often draw criticism because they use a lot of system memory. The apps rely on web technology, which means every single Electron app essentially ships with a mini browser. As a result, Electron apps are often more resource-heavy and less efficient than native desktop applications.

Some workloads can benefit from native code rather than web technologies, especially when performance and efficiency are priorities. That may make you question why Discord has had an Electron app for so long, but there are plus sides to the framework.

The biggest benefit of Electron is that it allows developers to use the same codebase across major platforms. Rather than maintaining separate applications for Windows, macOS, and Linux, developers can build a single application.

That advantage has kept Electron popular for years, powering everything from Discord and Slack to Microsoft Teams and Visual Studio Code. But some companies and developers have deemed the tradeoff too great and have migrated to other frameworks in pursuit of better performance and efficiency.

Discord's new app comes at a time when RAM is at a premium. Due to the ongoing RAM crisis, many people cannot upgrade to PCs. Even those looking to purchase new computers may have to pick models with only 8GB of RAM because of the increased cost of memory.

Microsoft is working to optimize Windows 11 for systems with 8GB of RAM. Alongside optimization efforts for Windows 11, Microsoft is reducing the memory needs of many of its apps.

Even with Windows 11 performing better on low-RAM devices, it's nice to see Discord ditch Electron and create a more efficient app. Discord has long been criticized for eating up memory and performing slowly. The new app should fix both those issues.

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Microsoft Teams meeting transcripts are about to become more profane, at least if your organization's admin enables a setting. This week, Microsoft rolled out the option to have profane words appear uncensored in meeting transcripts.

Depending on your workplace culture, the change may have little impact. Other organizations may discover that their meeting transcripts suddenly become a lot more colorful.

The feature applies to both live transcription and saved meeting transcripts. Profanity filtering remains enabled by default. Live captions work differently and continue to follow each participant's existing profanity settings.

The release notes do not indicate whether meeting participants will be notified when an organization chooses to disable profanity filtering in transcripts.

Censorship can be a sensitive topic, even in professional environments in which people have worked together a long time. Many people draw different lines when it comes to profane language, so it makes sense to have individual settings as well as organization-level settings.

There are situations in which exact wording matters. Internal investigations, HR complaints, legal disputes, or compliance reviews may benefit from an unfiltered transcript that reflects precisely what was said during a meeting.

Microsoft describes the feature in more depth in its release notes for admin features:

Microsoft Teams: Admins can control profanity filtering in meeting transcripts: Teams administrators will be able to use a meeting policy to control whether profane words are masked in live transcription and saved meeting transcripts. Filtering remains on by default. When an organizer is assigned a policy that turns filtering off, profane words can appear without masking in both the live and saved transcript, while live captions continue to follow each participant's existing profanity setting.

In addition to the profanity setting, Microsoft added a feature that pops calls in a new window to improve multitasking. The company also added a way to require pre-meeting consent for all participants of a meeting.

For most Teams users, this change probably won't alter day-to-day meetings. But for organizations that rely on transcripts for records, compliance, or investigations, having the option to capture conversations word-for-word could matter far more than a few colorful words.

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The OnePlus Open was one of the best foldables on the market when it launched. Its large displays and solid cameras were ahead of the competition, leading our colleagues at TechRadar to call it "the only foldable phone that doesn't compromise." So, how do you improve on what was already an excellent foldable? You put Windows 11 on it, of course.

Okay, that may be taking things too far, but Windows 11 does look incredible on a folding phone. I can say that with confidence because Kevin Shroff managed to get Windows 11 to run on the OnePlus Open.

To get Windows 11 onto the OnePlus Open, Shroff removed Android entirely, dimmed the external display, and focused on the large folding screen.

The project uses a combination of Windows 11, OEM firmware, and custom components. An impressive number of features work, considering the nature of the setup.

Getting Windows 11 to boot at all on the OnePlus Open is a feat, but Shroff got touch to work as well.

Several key functions do not work, however, including audio, Bluetooth, and cellular connectivity. Even charging and Wi-Fi are listed as "in progress" on the project's GitHub page.

With projects like this, it's more about seeing how far limits can be pushed than creating a daily driver. While I'd love a dual-booting foldable that can run Android and Windows 11, that's not realistic.

What could have been with Windows Phone

Whenever I see a phone forced to run Windows, my mind jumps to thoughts of Windows Phone. I imagine that's the case for many long-time readers here at Windows Central. But seeing Windows 11 on a foldable hits differently.

Windows 11 looks incredible on the nearly square inner display of the OnePlus Open. Because of folding laptops, dual screen PCs, and gaming handhelds, Windows 11 adapts well to screens with different aspect ratios.

The Windows 11 desktop almost looks built for devices like this. Compare Windows 11 on the OnePlus Open to Windows 10 on an early Lenovo X1 Fold.

Windows 11's taskbar shrinks perfectly onto the nearly square screen of the OnePlus Open. When opened, the Start menu fills most of the screen but leaves enough room around the edges to make it clear you're still on the desktop.

Earlier this year, we saw what could have been for the Surface Duo through the iPhone Duo. Now, a passion project illustrates how Windows 11 could have scaled to a foldable Surface Duo if Microsoft ever went in that direction.

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The Windows 11 Start menu has received a lot of updates recently, but if you want to fully customize your Start menu, you need to use an app like Start11. A major update to Start11 is now in beta, and it brings a bunch of new features.

Start11 v3 adds support for widgets within the Start menu. There are 20 widgets available at launch, though most are fairly straightforward. Widgets like a clock or calendar may serve better as proof of concept than a core part of the Start menu.

The updated app also adds Taskbar Islands, which are a dock-like experience. They feel a little bit like macOS because they split the taskbar into smaller pieces that do not take up an entire section at the bottom of your screen. But the Taskbar Islands very much match the overall design and feel of Windows 11.

Start11 adds support for grouping applications directly in the taskbar by holding Alt and dragging applications together. You can pin those groups as workspaces to launch multiple apps with a single click.

A new button in the taskbar provides quick access to recently closed applications, overflow items, and taskbar tools.

Stardock also added the ability to explore Start menu layouts from the community.

As much as I love apps that customize the look of Windows 11 and add new features, I only keep a few installed on my PC. Start11 is on the short list of apps I install right away, alongside PowerToys.

With Microsoft's recent improvements to the Start menu, an app like Start11 needs to do more to stand out. Start11 v3 does that with taskbar islands, widgets in the Start menu, and other new features.

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Copying and pasting continues to be an issue for those who install the latest updates from Microsoft. Just one month after an update broke functionality in Excel, October's release has caused the same issue.

The latest issues are caused by the KB5002934 update for Microsoft Excel, which is for Excel 2016. That version replaces KB5002665, which included a hotfix for a copy/paste bug. Despite superseding the previous update, the KB5002934 update can also prevent you from copying and pasting if a workbook contains conditional formatting.

Only a small set of Excel users should be affected by the bug, since it's limited to Excel 2016. Newer versions of Excel do not have the issue.

The bug appears in a way that may confuse those who run into it. Rather than Excel showing an error message or making a noise, the function simply fails.

The updates to Excel ship through Windows Update, though they aren't updates to the operating system itself. They function similarly to updates for other Microsoft apps such as Edge.

Luckily for those facing the issue, Microsoft has already fixed the bug. The company released a new build of Excel that fixes the issue. If Excel is running build 16.0.5574.1006 (or later), you should be fine.

You can check your Excel version by opening File > Account and looking under About Excel.

If for some reason you are still facing the issue, you can try these steps from Microsoft as a workaround:

• On the Home tab, select the Paste dropdown list, and then select Paste Special.
• In the Paste Special window, select one of the following options:
  • Formulas
  • Formulas & Number Formatting
  • Values
  • Values & Number Formatting
  • Link

I'm glad that Microsoft fixed the problem so quickly, but it's concerning that updates caused the same issues two months in a row.

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Searching for a specific email in Outlook can prove challenging. Outlook search can sometimes return irrelevant results while missing the exact email you need. Microsoft is looking to improve that frustrating experience with a revamped search.

The new search has a feature that genuinely removes the most frustrating part of Outlook for me. That phrase is thrown around a lot online and is often clickbait, but I mean it here emphatically.

Outlook now handles stop words better. Those words, such as "the," "and," and "is," often clog search results with irrelevant emails. I can't tell you how many times those tiny words have led to terrible searches that made me fish through the results that appear chronologically.

Microsoft's example from a blog post shows how drastically different the results are when searching "the FY27 budget" using the old Outlook search versus the new one.

The improvements highlighted by Microsoft center around ranking emails better. Microsoft focused on three areas when building the new search tool in Outlook: better ranking, improved performance when connectivity is poor, and a tighter feedback loop.

When you search for an email within Outlook, you will see seven ranked results rather than three. Those emails are ranked based on recency, sender, how much the message has been interacted with, and other factors. Expanding the number of ranked messages presented should show users more relevant emails while also helping Microsoft improve its ranking systems over time.

The new ranking layout is available across several versions of Outlook, including the new and Classic versions.

There are other upgrades as well. Classic Outlook now automatically falls back to locally indexed content when connectivity is poor. That same functionality is on the way to new Outlook but will ship later.

Users of Classic Outlook should also see faster search results. Microsoft also said recent improvements reduced latency for the slowest 5% of Outlook searches.

The improved rankings in Outlook are the result of a small language model ranker built specifically for Outlook. That model is trained through distillation, meaning it is built under the supervision of a larger model.

Distillation helps Outlook search be more efficient than if it had to run a larger model just to look through and rank emails.

I'd probably be okay with using a larger model in Outlook if it cut out irrelevant results that appear simply for using an article or common verb like "is." I bet I'd still save some time that way. But I don't have to test that theory because the new Outlook search is lightweight.

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We're quickly approaching XBOX's 25th anniversary. Many companies are celebrating the event with special accessories and gear, but you can also build your game library as part of the festivities. If you purchase an eligible Windows 11 PC, you can claim 25 XBOX games that have a total value of over $500.

When Microsoft announced the promotion, it highlighted The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, Minecraft Dungeons, and Gears of War: Reloaded as games you can claim after buying a PC. We now have a full list of what you'll receive.

• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition
• Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
• Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition
• Minecraft Dungeons
• Gears of War: Reloaded
• Call of Duty: WWII
• The Elder Scrolls Online
• Fallout 76
• DOOM
• DOOM II
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Game of the Year Edition
• Age of Mythology: Retold
• Quake
• Quake II
• Wolfenstein: The New Order
• The Outer Worlds
• Rise of Nations: Extended Edition
• As Dusk Falls
• Battletoads
• Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire
• Zoo Tycoon: Ultimate Animal Collection
• Fuzion Frenzy
• Gears Tactics
• Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge
• BLINX: The Time Sweeper

That collection of games includes old classics like Fuzion Frenzy and recent AAA games. The bundle is a great way to grow your library or to help a friend or family member get started if you grab them a PC or gaming handheld as a gift.

Gaming handhelds are eligible

The X25 bundle can be claimed after purchasing any eligible PC running Windows 11, but I'd argue that it's best paired with a gaming handheld PC. Those types of devices are going to be popular gifts over the coming months. They allow you to take many of your favorite games on the go and are also a comfortable way to enjoy your favorite titles around your home.

Many of the games included in the bundle support XBOX Play Anywhere, meaning you can play them on your Windows PC and XBOX consoles. Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, Gears of War: Reloaded, and The Elder Scrolls Online all support XBOX Play Anywhere.

There are some notable games that do not support XBOX Play Anywhere, meaning their Windows and XBOX versions are treated separately. Call of Duty: WWII, Fallout 76, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, and Minecraft Dungeons are the biggest games from the bundle to not support XBOX Play Anywhere.

Our Managing Editor Jez Corden just re-reviewed the XBOX Ally X after using the gaming handheld for the past year. He called the gaming handheld "a fantastic device, a perfect companion for any XBOX player with a big Xbox Play Anywhere library."

That praise makes the XBOX Ally X arguably the best Windows PC to pick up when looking to claim the X25 bundle.

Terms and conditions

To get the free games, you need to purchase an eligible PC. Microsoft outlines the requirements:

"Eligible PCs include new Windows PCs and handhelds pre-installed with Windows Home and new Windows PCs pre-installed with Windows Pro running on NVIDIA RTX Spark silicon. Refurbished Windows PCs, and PCs purchased from unauthorized resellers, online marketplaces, liquidators, or auction websites, are not eligible."

The promotion runs from November 2, 2026 until December 31, 2026. You have to be in the United States to claim the games.

To claim the games, you'll have to open the Microsoft Store app on Windows 11. No later than November 30, 2026, the bundle will appear on eligible PCs and give you a chance to claim all 25 games.

Before you make any plans to purchase a PC to claim the free games then return the computer, Microsoft notes that it may revoke promotional benefits if a purchase is returned, canceled, or incomplete for other reasons.

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Microsoft's plans for AI PCs include everything from laptops with only 8GB of RAM to supercomputers with over 128GB of RAM. The company's roadmap was outlined in slides shared on X by user "HXL."

One slide, labeled "Windows is the home for hybrid intelligence" shows four tiers of PCs. The lowest one, Tier 0, is Windows PCs with 8GB of RAM that are powered by Intel Core Series 3 or 4, AMD Ryzen 100 or 200, and Snapdragon X or X Plus.

Tier 1 covers Copilot+ PCs with 16GB to 64GB of RAM. That tier spans a broad range of specs, from consumer-focused processors like the Snapdragon X2 Plus to the much more powerful AMD Ryzen AI MAX+ 400.

Tier 2 is builder PCs for building and running AI models locally. The hardware in that tier overlaps with the high end of Tier 1. It includes PCs powered by Intel Core Ultra Next, NVIDIA RTX Spark, and AMD Ryzen AI MAX+ 400.

The highest tier is for supercomputers designed to run frontier models locally. Those devices run on processors you'd never see in a consumer PC, such as Intel Crescent Island, NVIDIA GB300 DGX Station, and AMD Next chips.

What stands out most about the roadmap isn't the hardware itself but Microsoft's continued emphasis on hybrid intelligence. Rather than viewing local and cloud computing as competing approaches, Microsoft intends to use both.

We already knew that Copilot+ PCs required at least 16GB of RAM and that Microsoft had plans for workstations and supercomputers with top-end specs. NVIDIA's RTX Spark launched recently and powers several tier 2 PCs, such as the Surface Laptop Ultra.

It's interesting to see that PCs with 8GB of RAM appear on the roadmap. Microsoft has been working to optimize Windows 11 for PCs with 8GB of RAM. The current experience is viable for many use cases, but the operating system still needs optimization.

Poor, poor Sam Altman

Microsoft's dream for AI computing is more like a nightmare for OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. He recently claimed that it's "actually quite terrible" for people to have RAM on their own computers. One theory is that OpenAI and other tech giants would prefer AI workloads to rely on centralized compute resources that can then be sold as a service.

Altman did not mention that specifically, but his comments suggest he views compute power as a resource AI companies have more of a right to than people do.

Microsoft has very different plans for AI in the form of hybrid intelligence. Rather than relying solely on cloud computing or local processing, people using hybrid intelligence will use a mixture of both.

We're still in the early days of hybrid intelligence, but a likely scenario is one in which users utilize the local compute power they have and then summon the cloud to complete tasks as needed. That setup would allow PCs across the entire roadmap to access AI.

Tier 0 and Tier 1 devices could perform less demanding tasks depending on their exact specs and lean more heavily on the cloud for compute-heavy workloads. Tier 2 and Tier 3 PCs would mostly stick to local processing but have the cloud as an option for exceptionally demanding projects.

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