Microsoft is constantly updating Windows 11. During the first three months of 2026 we received three quality updates. Some introduced brand-new features to the world’s most popular operating system, while others finally rolled out certain 2025 features to all Windows 11 users. Below are five new Windows 11 features that arrived this year that I believe matter the most.
Native Sysmon support
Sysmon is now a built-in Windows 11 feature
Sysmon (System Monitor) is a powerful Windows utility that monitors system activity and logs it to the Windows Event Log. It stays active across reboots and is a valuable tool for system administrators and Windows power users. For years, you could only use it by installing the entire Sysinternals suite, but a recent Windows update has made it a built-in Windows 11 feature.
To enable it, open the Start menu, type “Turn Windows features” in the search box, and open the tool. Next, enable “Sysmon,” click OK, and let Windows fetch the necessary files. Now open the Start menu again, type “PowerShell,” and run PowerShell as administrator. You can now type the following command in PowerShell and press Enter:
Sysmon -i Sysmon should now be installed and running. To check its logs, open the Windows Event Viewer (just type the phrase into the Start menu search box) and navigate to: Applications and Services Logs > Microsoft > Windows > Sysmon > Operational. That’s it!
An internet speed test taskbar shortcut
Better than nothing, but I hope we’ll get a proper built-in speed test soon
Windows 11 now also has a built-in internet speed test shortcut you can access by right-clicking the internet icon in the taskbar and clicking the “Perform speed test” button. This opens a Bing search result for an “internet speed test” query in your default browser (at least it doesn’t force Microsoft Edge), allowing you to quickly run it.
It’s far from perfect, and yes, it relies on Bing, but at least you can kick off a speed test right from the taskbar, sort of. Hopefully, this is just a stopgap, and Windows 11 eventually gets a proper built-in solution.
- What’s included?
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Device encryption, find my device, firewall and network protection, internet protection, and more
- Brand
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Microsoft
Upgrading the operating system for your PC can be simple with Windows 11 Home; it offers a simple, fast, and intuitive interface for ease of use.
Cross-device resume
Resume apps from your Android phone on your Windows PC
Microsoft has been trying to improve Windows 11 integration with Android phones for years now, and it’s been alright. You can browse files on your phone directly from the File Manager, use it as a webcam, remotely lock your PC, take and make calls from your PC, share files between your PC and phone, and more. A recent Windows 11 update brings another nifty, if limited, feature.
Now you can continue what you were doing on your Android phone on your Windows PC. For example, if you open a supported app on your phone while it’s connected to your Windows 11 PC, its icon can show up on the PC’s taskbar, letting you jump back in on your PC. The feature is still very limited; as of this writing, it supports only a handful of apps, but it’s an important step toward the kind of seamless integration you get between Macs and iPhones.
To enable it, you have to download the Link to Windows app to your phone and connect it to your PC. Then open Settings on your PC, navigate to Bluetooth & Devices > Mobile devices, click on your phone, and enable the “Resume” toggle. Next, go to Personalization > Taskbar and enable the “Resume” toggle there as well. That’s it.
Battery percentage in the taskbar
The battery icon now also changes colors
This feature technically debuted in 2025, but the majority of Windows 11 users (myself included) received it with the February 2026 update. Now I can enable battery percentage in the taskbar on all my Windows handhelds. Not only that, but the battery icon turns green when the device is charging, and orange while Energy Saver is active.
To enable battery percentage, open Settings, then go to System > Power & battery, and enable the “Battery percentage” toggle. Regarding the battery icon colors, they will automatically change to green while charging the device and to orange when Energy Saver kicks in.
WebP images can now be used as desktop backgrounds
But you need to download the WebP Image Extension
WebP is a very popular image format used by many websites because it takes up less space than JPG and other common formats. The downside is that you usually have to convert WebP images to JPG (or another format) to use them as your Windows 11 background.
Now you can set WebP images as your Windows background without converting them or using third-party apps. To do this, you will need to install the WebP Image Extension from the Microsoft Store. Once that’s done, just download a WebP image, right-click it, and set it as your background. All that’s left is for Microsoft to enable support for the AVIF format as well.
That’s not all
Windows 11 also got a few other nifty new features in 2026. Users can now see their PC specs right in the Home tab of the Settings app. This might not matter much to you or me, but if you’re playing the role of IT support for friends and family, it’s a big improvement because we don’t have to walk them through where to find out their PC’s specs anymore; all they have to do is open the Settings app. Windows Hello ESS (Enhanced Sign-in Security) now supports many external fingerprint readers and webcams, and we’ve also got a few new webcam options (pan and tilt).
- OS
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Windows, macOS, iPhone, iPad, Android
- Brand
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Microsoft
Microsoft 365 includes access to Office apps like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint on up to five devices, 1 TB of OneDrive storage, and more.
Stephan is the sports journalist for the Maple Grove Report.
