Windows 11 26H2 targets sluggish PCs by keeping more data in memory

Microsoft says Windows 11 26H2 can make everyday actions up to 20% faster by reducing reliance on the page file, while adding a movable taskbar, faster Photos app and tighter memory controls.

Microsoft is promoting Windows 11 version 26H2 as a meaningful performance refresh, saying the update makes common actions such as opening Start, Search, File Explorer and context menus noticeably faster. In a post on the Windows Experience Blog, Navjot Virk, corporate vice president for Windows experiences, said the gains come chiefly from a reworked approach to memory management. On systems with 8GB of RAM, Microsoft says the operating system can now keep up to 2GB more active data in memory, reducing reliance on the slower page file on SSD storage. The company’s own measurements put the improvement at as much as 20%, although it stressed that the result depends on hardware and configuration.

The headline figure is based on Microsoft’s internal timing rather than independent benchmarking. According to the company’s notes, it compared build 26300.9550 with build 26200.7628 and measured tasks including Search, Start, the right-click menu, Settings, Snipping Tool and File Explorer. Microsoft also says the same optimisation work extends to boot, Microsoft 365 and the Edge browser. WindowsLatest reported that some users have seen as much as 2GB less RAM usage after installing the update, while PCWorld said the broader effect is often more apparent on machines with more memory, even though Microsoft has framed the release around improvements for lower-memory PCs.

One of the clearest examples of the new approach is Widgets. On machines with 8GB of RAM or less, Microsoft now prevents the board from loading in the background and instead starts it only when opened. The company says that change frees more than 200MB of memory for other tasks. It is part of a wider effort to make Windows hold more working data in RAM rather than spill it into the page file, which should reduce pauses when several apps or browser tabs are open at once. WindowsLatest and other early reports have linked the update to a Low Latency Profile that aims to make shell and app launches feel more immediate, although the scale of the effect still appears to vary by system.

The performance claims arrive alongside a set of interface and usability changes that Microsoft has been working on for months. The taskbar can again be moved to the top, left or right edge of the screen through Settings, a capability that Microsoft first tested with Windows Insiders earlier this year. Windows Update is also meant to be less disruptive, with more control over installation timing, shorter install times and fewer restarts. Microsoft says Windows Hello sign-in is faster and more dependable, Bluetooth headphone pairing has been improved, and AirPods can connect up to 15 seconds faster on some models.

A rebuilt Photos app is another prominent part of the release. Microsoft says it has been rewritten on WinUI 3, the current Windows interface framework, and launches more quickly than before. TechRadar reported that the viewer opens faster and loads images more quickly on average, while the updated Gallery pulls together pictures from the PC, OneDrive and Apple’s iCloud, with natural-language search designed to find images using prompts such as “my dog on the beach”. The editor now includes object removal, a Relight tool for adjusting lighting, HDR editing and support for saving HEIC and WebP files. Search has also been redesigned on WinUI 3, though Microsoft has limited that change to Windows Insiders for the moment.

Beyond consumer-facing changes, Microsoft has also used 26H2 to advance security and administration features. Its IT guidance highlights Administrator protection, which grants elevated rights only when needed; built-in Sysmon logging, turned off by default; and a Smart App Control option that can now be switched without reinstalling Windows. The update also adds support for post-quantum cryptography algorithms, stops the kernel from trusting cross-signed third-party drivers by default, introduces point-in-time restore and surfaces NPU usage in Task Manager. Start and the taskbar have also gained new layout options, although several of these changes are rolling out gradually and some depend on specific hardware.

Microsoft says Windows 11 version 26H2 began rolling out on 29 September as an enablement package, meaning it activates features already delivered through monthly updates rather than replacing the operating system with a large download. The package, KB5121794, is intended to install quickly and, according to BetaNews, gives a PC a further two years of support. Users on Windows 11 version 24H2 or 25H2 can receive it through Windows Update, while manual installation is also available through the Microsoft Update Catalog. For clean installs, Microsoft is offering ISO downloads and a Media Creation Tool, with separate media required for Arm-based devices. Microsoft has not yet said when the redesigned Search experience will leave the Insider programme.