Microsoft dropped a batch of Windows 11 Insider previews in early September 2025 that weave on-device AI more deeply into daily tasks—correcting your speech as you dictate, enhancing video from any webcam, and putting AI actions right inside File Explorer. But there’s a catch: nearly all of the headlining features require a Copilot+ PC, the newer class of machines with dedicated neural processing units. For everyone else, these builds still bring useful tweaks to settings, controllers, and privacy controls.

What’s new across the September previews

The builds (26120.6682/26220.6682 in Dev and Beta channels, 27938 and 27943 in Canary) span both the 24H2 and upcoming 25H2 releases. They introduce six significant areas of change, plus smaller quality-of-life updates.

Fluid dictation arrives in Voice Access

Voice Access now has a “fluid dictation” mode that uses on-device Small Language Models (SLMs) to clean up your speech in real time. It corrects grammar, removes filler words, and adds punctuation without any cloud processing. Because the model runs locally, it works offline and doesn’t send your voice data anywhere.

How to enable it: From within Voice Access, open the settings menu (top-right), go to Manage options, and turn on Fluid dictation. The feature is limited to non‑secure text fields—it won’t work in password or PIN boxes.

Availability: Fluid dictation is exclusive to Copilot+ PCs and supports all English locales for now.

Studio Effects now work with any camera

Windows Studio Effects—the AI‑powered background blur, eye correction, and automatic framing—previously only worked with built‑in laptop cameras. Starting with these builds, you can apply the same real‑time enhancements to USB webcams and rear‑facing cameras on Copilot+ machines.

How to enable it: Go to Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Cameras, select your external camera, click Advanced camera options, and toggle on “Use Windows Studio Effects.”

File Explorer gets AI actions and a hover menu

File Explorer’s Home page now shows a quick‑action strip when you hover over a file. The two initial commands are “Open file location” and “Ask Copilot about this file.” For image files, the right‑click menu in Canary builds adds an “AI actions” submenu with:
- Bing Visual Search
- Blur Background (via Photos app)
- Erase Objects (via Photos app)
- Remove Background (via Paint)

These image actions work on .jpg, .jpeg, and .png files. The hover menu is rolling out first to Microsoft account users; work and school accounts, along with users in the European Economic Area, will get it later.

Click to Do gets a prompt box and local AI suggestions

Click to Do—the system overlay that analyzes what’s on your screen—now includes a Copilot prompt box directly in its interface. Below the box, you’ll see suggested prompts generated locally by Microsoft’s Phi‑Silica model, which runs on the NPU. Suggestions are initially offered for English, Spanish, and French text selections.

Other Click to Do improvements:
- A new animation when swiping from the right edge on touch devices.
- Tags in the context menu that highlight new and popular actions.
- The Summarize action now produces more concise output.

Advanced settings page replaces “For developers”

Microsoft rebranded the old “For developers” page to a broader “Advanced” section under Settings > System. The page organizes controls into sections: Taskbar, File Explorer, Terminal, Dev Drives, Virtual Workspace, and For developers. The biggest addition is a preview of version‑control integration in File Explorer: you can select repository folders, and Explorer will display Git metadata (branch name, last commit author, last commit message, diff counts) in column headers. This feature only supports Git for now.

Xbox Controller button gets a third function

A small but noticeable change for gamers: a long press of the Xbox button now opens Task View, allowing you to switch between apps and games without reaching for the keyboard. The three‑state mapping is:
- Short press: Game Bar
- Long press (release): Task View
- Press and hold: turn off controller

This is rolling out as a controlled feature, so some Insiders may see it later than others.

SCOOBE subscription reminder

A new Second Chance Out‑of‑Box Experience screen now appears if your Microsoft 365 subscription billing needs attention, helping consumers and small businesses avoid service interruptions.

Recent activity for AI requests

In Canary build 27938, Settings > Privacy & security > Text and image generation gains a “Recent activity” view. It lists which third‑party apps have called Windows’ on‑device generative models, giving you an auditable trail. You can disable access per app from this page.

What these changes mean for you

For everyday users: If you own a Copilot+ PC, you’ll see the biggest benefits. Fluid dictation makes voice typing far more polished—no more stilted transcriptions full of “um”s. Studio Effects on an external webcam means consistently professional video on video calls without third‑party software. File Explorer’s AI actions let you do quick image edits or web lookups without opening heavy apps. The hover menu puts Copilot just a click away from any file.

If your machine isn’t a Copilot+ PC, you’ll still get the Advanced settings overhaul, Xbox controller mapping, SCOOBE reminder, and the Recent activity privacy control. But the AI‑driven features won’t appear until either your hardware is upgraded or Microsoft broadens compatibility.

For power users and developers: The Git integration in File Explorer is a welcome convenience. Instead of switching to a terminal or IDE to check branch status, you can glance at Explorer columns. The Advanced page also reunites useful toggles like long‑path support and virtual‑workspace settings that were previously buried in developer menus. Expect some instability—Microsoft temporarily reverted or toggled off certain options during these flights, so treat them as early previews.

For IT administrators: You have immediate work to do. The new “Recent activity” pane is a transparency tool, not a governance solution; pair it with MDM policies to control which apps can access on‑device AI. Map your device fleet to identify Copilot+ hardware—features like fluid dictation and Studio Effects for secondary cameras will only arrive on those endpoints first. Review the rollout schedule: many AI features start with Microsoft accounts, meaning your Entra ID‑joined devices won’t see them yet, but you should prepare policies now. The Xbox button remapping could confuse users in shared or kiosk setups, so update documentation.

How we got here

Microsoft’s push into on‑device AI isn’t sudden. The Copilot+ PC initiative launched in mid‑2024 with Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chips, followed by Intel Lunar Lake and AMD Strix Point processors. Throughout 2025, Insider builds have progressively added features that exploit the NPU: Recall, Click to Do, and now fluid dictation and Studio Effects expansions. The Phi‑Silica model that powers Click to Do suggestions was announced earlier this year as a small language model tuned for Windows’ AI subsystem.

These September builds continue the pattern of gating advanced AI features behind Copilot+ hardware while simultaneously backporting non‑AI improvements—like the Advanced settings and controller mapping—to all Windows 11 PCs. The staggered rollout (Canary getting features that Dev/Beta validated first, and many features restricted to Microsoft accounts) reflects Microsoft’s cautious data‑driven approach: test extensively, gather telemetry, then expand.

What to do now

  1. Insider testing on a spare device: Enable Dev or Beta channel on a non‑production Copilot+ PC if you want to try fluid dictation, Click to Do prompts, or File Explorer Git integration without risking your daily workflow. Canary is even more experimental; expect features to appear and disappear.
  2. Check your hardware: If you’re on the fence about upgrading, confirm your PC has a compatible NPU. You can run msinfo32 or check Settings > System > About for “Copilot+ PC” branding.
  3. Turn on fluid dictation: Once on a supported build, open Voice Access (Windows key + Ctrl + S), go to Settings > Manage options, and enable Fluid dictation. Dictate into any text field to see real‑time corrections.
  4. Apply Studio Effects to an external camera: Plug in your USB webcam, go to Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Cameras, select it, and toggle on “Use Windows Studio Effects.” You may need to restart your video app.
  5. Explore File Explorer’s AI tools: Hover over a file on the Home page to see the new action bar. If you’re in Canary, right‑click an image and look for “AI actions.” Remember, these are cloud‑accelerated in some cases, so don’t use them on sensitive files if your organization restricts data egress.
  6. Set up Git integration (if coding): Go to Settings > System > Advanced > File Explorer, add a repository folder, and enable column displays. This is a preview, so don’t rely on it for critical projects.
  7. Review AI privacy settings: Go to Settings > Privacy & security > Text and image generation to see the new Recent activity list. From here you can audit and manage which apps have used on‑device AI.
  8. For IT admins: Use Group Policy or MDM to disable AI actions if needed. Keep an eye on the rollout of features to Entra ID accounts; test with a few pilot users when available. Update end‑user guides for the Xbox Controller behavior.

What to watch for

Microsoft is expected to deliver these features to more users in the coming months, with Copilot+ exclusivity gradually relaxing on some less‑intensive AI workloads. The bigger question is how enterprises will react to AI actions in File Explorer—will they see them as productivity boosts or data‑governance headaches? Microsoft’s response will likely include more granular admin controls and clearer indicators of when an action uses the cloud. For now, the safest path is to test early, plan policies, and watch how the builds mature. If history is any guide, features that land in Dev/Beta now will likely hit the stable channel by late 2025 or early 2026.