December 9, 2025—KB5072033 (OS Build 26100.7462)

Announcements and messages

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

Improvements

This security update contains fixes and quality improvements from KB5068861 (released November 11, 2025) and KB5072359 (released November 18, 2025). The following summary outlines key issues addressed by this update. Also, included are available new features. The bold text within the brackets indicates the item or area of the change. ​​​​

• [File Explorer] ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ New!  Dividers now separate top-level icons in the File Explorer context menu.

• [General] New!​​​​​​​ When an app requests access to location, camera, microphone, or other device capabilities, Windows shows a redesigned system dialog box. To emphasize the privacy prompt, the screen dims slightly, and the prompt appears at the center of the screen.

• [Search on the Taskbar] New!​​​​​​​ When you use Search from the Windows taskbar, a new grid view will help you more quickly and accurately identify the desired image within your search.

• [Settings]  ​​​​​​​New!  Windows activation and expiration prompts match the Windows 11 design and appear as system notifications when action is required. There also have been improvements to messaging under Settings > System > Activation.

• [Taskbar] 

  • New!​​​​​​​ The larger clock with seconds is now back in the notification center, displayed above the date and calendar. To turn this option on, go to Settings > Time & language > Date & time, and turn on Show time in the Notification Center.

  • Fixed: If you accidentally click and drag your mouse across the taskbar preview thumbnail, the preview might stop working.

• [Task Manager] New! Task Manager now uses standard metrics to show CPU workload consistently across all pages, aligning with industry standards and third-party tools. If you prefer the previous view, you can enable a new optional column called CPU Utility in the Details tab to display the earlier CPU usage value shown on the Processes page.

• [PowerShell 2.0] Starting in August 2025, Windows 11, version 24H2, will no longer include Windows PowerShell 2.0. This legacy component was introduced in Windows 7 and officially deprecated in 2017. Most users won’t be affected, as newer versions such as PowerShell 5.1 and PowerShell 7.x remain available and supported. If you use older scripts or tools that depend on PowerShell 2.0, update them to avoid compatibility issues.

• [Audio] Improved: Addressed an underlying audio service stops responding which could impact the ability to play audio in certain cases.

• [Active Directory (known issue)]) Fixed: This update addresses an issue that occurs when you use ntdsutil.exe with 8KB database pages during an in-place upgrade to Windows Server 2025. The issue could damage the NTDS.dit database and prevent the Domain Controller from mounting it.

• [Cryptographic Provider (known issue)] Fixed: Fixed: This update addresses an issue where you might see an error in Windows Event Viewer with Error ID 57. The event displays the following message: The 'Microsoft Pluton Cryptographic Provider' provider was not loaded because initialization failed.

• [dbgcore.dll] Fixed: An underlying issue with dbgcore.dll could result in certain apps, including explorer.exe, crashing.

• [Device management] Fixed: This update addresses an issue that prevented some system recovery features from working properly due to a temporary file sharing conflict. This affected certain device management tools and disrupted key functions on some devices.

• [File system]​​​​​​​ Fixed: An issue in Resilient File System (ReFS) where using backup apps with large files could sometimes exhaust system memory.

• [Input]

  • Fixed: Attempting to type Chinese with an IME after copying something with CTRL + C can result in the first character not displaying.

  • Fixed: An underlying issue related to textinputframework.dll could result in certain apps like Sticky Notes and Notepad crashing.

  • Fixed: This update addresses an issue with the Chinese (Simplified) Input Method Editor (IME) where some extended characters appear as empty boxes.

  • [Fixed This update addresses an issue that prevents typing on the touch keyboard when using the Microsoft Changjie, Microsoft Bopomofo, or Microsoft Japanese Input Method Editors (IMEs). The issue occurs after switching to a previous version of the IME.

• [Kerberos]​​​​​​​ Fixed: There might be an underlying crash in Kerberos when attempting to access a cloud file share.

• [Live captions] Fixed: Changing the opacity of live captions in Settings > Accessibility > Captions > Caption Style, has no effect.

• [Login] Improved: Addressed some underlying cases which could lead to you seeing a blank white screen, or a screen saying, "just a moment", for a few minutes when logging into your PC.

• [PowerShell 5.1] Invoke-WebRequest now includes a confirmation prompt with a security warning of script execution risk. You can choose to continue or cancel the request. For additional details, see CVE-2025-54100 and KB5074596: PowerShell 5.1: Preventing script execution from web content.

If you've already installed previous updates, your device will download and install only the new updates included in this package.

For more information about security vulnerabilities, please refer to the Security Update Guide and the December 2025 Security Updates.

Known issues in this update

How to get this update

Before you install this update

​​​​​​​Microsoft now 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 and Servicing Stack Updates (SSU): Frequently Asked Questions.

Install this update

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

Windows UpdateBusinessCatalogServer Update Services

Available	Next Step
	This update downloads and installs automatically from Windows Update and Microsoft Update.

File Information

For a list of the files provided in this update, download the file information for cumulative update 5072033. 

For a list of the files provided in the servicing stack update, download the file information for the SSU (KB5071142) - version 26100.7295.