Windows 10 build 17686 now available for Insiders in the Fast ring

Windows Insider program settings
Windows Insider program settings (Image credit: Windows Central)

Another week, another Insider Preview build for those in the Fast ring to enjoy! Today's build is 17686, and is packing minor improvements and enhancements over the last few public preview builds, including a new Local Experience Settings page, and more.

What's new in this build?

  • We have introduced a new Region page that allows overrides to default regional format settings such as Calendar, First day of the week, Dates, Times, and Currency. Please go to Settings App – Time & Language – Region and give it a try.
  • We wanted to let you know that if access to the microphone has been disabled in your privacy settings, we'll now pop a notification the first time an attempt to use the microphone is blocked so you can review the settings if desired.
  • This build no longer requires a physical monitor to be connected while running Mixed Reality in cases such as backpack PCs. Setting up WMR for the first time in Mixed Reality Portal and unlocking the PC on the sign in screen still, require a monitor to be connected initially. However, you can configure auto login to prevent needing to sign in for subsequent usage here. Using Windows Mixed Reality while standing requires setting up a room boundary.
  • Apps running in Windows Mixed Reality can now make use of the Camera Capture UI API to capture images of the mixed reality world using the system capture experience. Try running Mail in the Cliff House and inserting an image from your camera in a new message to share an image of the scenic view.
  • We've also made some adjustments to the mixed reality video capture experience in this build to make it easier to stop videos from the Start menu.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in frequent bugchecks on the previous build with CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED error. Settings > Gaming > Game DVR has been renamed "Captures".
  • We fixed an issue where Paint and WordPad settings and recent files weren't migrated during upgrades.
  • While we still have some work to do, you'll find that when you update to this build, File Explorer will look a lot more complete in dark theme.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in the "Replace or skip files" dialog having some unexpected dark elements in recent flights.
  • We fixed an issue where the Japanese IME's big mode indicator would appear in the center of the screen when bringing up UAC even if the mode indicator had been disabled in Settings.
  • We fixed an issue where the taskbar flyouts (network, volume, etc) didn't have a shadow.
  • We fixed an issue where clicking on the plus button in the Clock and Calendar flyout from the taskbar didn't do anything in recent flights.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in Command Prompt's cursor appearing invisible in the last few flights.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in a high number of reliability issues when switching to the Microsoft Pinyin IME in recent flights.
  • We fixed an issue where the Emoji Panel might not dismiss if you clicked somewhere else on the screen.

As always, you can check out the Windows Blog for the complete changelog, including a list of known issues!

Zac Bowden
Senior Editor

Zac Bowden is a Senior Editor at Windows Central. Bringing you exclusive coverage into the world of Windows on PCs, tablets, phones, and more. Also an avid collector of rare Microsoft prototype devices! Keep in touch on Twitter and Threads