Windows 11 Build 26200.5742 Migrates More Control Panel Settings into Settings App

Microsoft just pushed the throttle on its long-running campaign to retire the Control Panel, migrating a wide set of time, language, and keyboard settings into the modern Settings app with Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5742 (KB5064075) for the Dev Channel. Released on August 8, 2025, the build also introduces a redesigned mobile device companion in the Start menu, patches a slew of File Explorer, Task Manager, and IME bugs, and ships with several notable known issues.

For Insiders brave enough to test early features, Build 26200.5742 represents the latest step in the operating system’s visual and functional unification. It moves seven time-and-language settings and two keyboard behavior controls out of the legacy Control Panel and places them inside the Settings app, where Microsoft wants all configuration to eventually live. The build also refines the Start menu’s phone integration, squashes black flashes in File Explorer, and addresses crashes in Task Manager’s performance tab—all while warning of potential rollbacks, Live Captions failures, and Xbox controller-induced crashes.

The most immediately visible change is the updated mobile device companion in the Start menu. The companion panel, which Microsoft first teased in earlier Dev builds, now surfaces recent phone activity directly from the Start interface. Users can see recent messages, missed calls, photos, and app updates without opening the Phone Link app. The redesign places these activity cards in a layout that feels native to Windows 11’s fluid design language, with rounded corners and acrylic blur. This integration deepens the connection between a Windows PC and an Android or iOS device, turning the Start menu into a quick-glance communication hub.

While the feature is still limited to certain regions and phone models, the build expands its availability to a wider set of Insider devices. Microsoft has not yet said when the mobile companion will move into Beta or release channels, but the rapid iteration suggests the company sees cross-device continuity as a core Windows 11 value proposition.

The Great Control Panel Migration Continues

The most substantial change under the hood is the relocation of multiple time, language, and keyboard settings. For years, users have had to dig through two separate interfaces to manage basic system behavior, with the Control Panel stubbornly holding onto legacy configuration items. Build 26200.5742 cuts deeper into that divide.

Time and Language Settings Now in Settings App

Seven specific configurations have made the jump:

Additional Clocks: You can now add extra clock widgets under Settings > Time & language > Date & time, a feature previously buried in the old “Date and Time” dialog.
Time Server Configuration: Synchronizing with an internet time server or specifying a custom NTP server moves to Settings > Time & language > Date & time > Additional settings.
Date and Time Formatting: Customizing short and long date formats, AM/PM symbols, and first day of the week now lives under the same Date & time page.
Number and Currency Format: Toggling between decimal separators and currency symbols is now accessible via Settings > Time & language > Language & region > Region.
Unicode UTF-8 Support: A global toggle to enable UTF-8 for worldwide language support appears under Settings > Time & language > Language & region > Language, simplifying a previously obscure Control Panel switch.
Language and Region Settings Copy: Administrators can copy language, keyboard, and region settings to the welcome screen, system accounts, and new user profiles from Settings > Time & language > Language & region > Additional settings—a crucial tool for enterprise image deployments.

These migrations trim away some of the most frequently accessed Control Panel applets. Combined with previous builds moving sound and network setting pages, the Settings app is inching toward feature parity with its predecessor.

Keyboard Behavior Leaves the Control Panel

Keyboard repeat and cursor blink settings, stalwarts of the ancient “Keyboard Properties” dialog, now have modern homes:

Character Repeat Delay/Rate: Adjust how quickly a key starts repeating and how fast it repeats under Settings > Accessibility > Keyboard.
Cursor Blink Rate: Control the blink speed of the text cursor in Settings > Accessibility > Text cursor.

Accessibility-related keyboard settings were already moving to this hub, but Build 26200.5742 completes the transfer, ensuring users who need to fine-tune typing behavior no longer have to confront a Windows 7-style dialog.

These moves align with Microsoft’s stated goal of removing the Control Panel entirely, though the company has been silent on a final retirement date. Insiders may notice that some legacy dialogs still appear when drilling into “Additional settings,” indicating the migration is not yet complete at the code level—the old interfaces have been redirected rather than rewritten. Still, this build marks a significant expansion of the Settings app’s responsibilities.

File Explorer: Smoother, Faster, Less Flashing

The build corrects a raft of File Explorer issues that have irritated Insiders for months. Icon mirroring now works correctly in right-to-left (RTL) languages like Arabic and Hebrew, ending a long-standing visual glitch. Tooltips that stubbornly stayed on screen after moving the mouse away are fixed, as are the black flashes that occurred when duplicating a tab in a maximized File Explorer window.

Desktop icon scaling received improved support to prevent icons and text from overlapping when display settings change, and Narrator now announces actions performed in File Explorer more clearly. Performance optimizations target two pain points: launching cloud-synced files stored only online should feel snappier, and context menus—those notorious right-click delays—load faster. These under-the-hood changes are less flashy than a new Start menu, but they address the daily friction that power users and consumers alike endure.

Task Manager Gains Reliability and Contrast

Task Manager, which has been a source of frustration with random freezes, gets a stability patch. The performance section no longer locks up when switching between tabs or monitoring live graphs. Microsoft also improved the contrast ratio of column headers for better accessibility and resized some fields to ensure text is not cut off on high-DPI screens.

While not as dramatic as the dark mode overhaul of previous builds, these tiny tweaks make the tool more usable for system administrators who rely on it to diagnose performance problems.

IME and Input Fixes: No More Dropped Characters

The complex world of Input Method Editors receives targeted corrections. The Chinese IME no longer drops characters after copying text, a bug that had been driving users to awkward workarounds. On the touch keyboard, Changjie, Bopomoji, and Japanese IMEs regain full functionality after a prior update left them broken for some fingerprint and layout configurations. These fixes are critical for a significant portion of Windows’ global user base.

Other Resolved Issues

Settings app stability: A crash when adding a security key via Settings > Account > Sign-in options has been resolved, closing a loop for users who rely on hardware tokens for authentication.
dao360.dll crashes: Applications linked to this legacy data access library no longer crash on launch, fixing compatibility for older business software.
SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION bug checks: Some Insiders encountered a blue screen with this error in previous builds; Microsoft has identified and patched the root cause.

The Known Issues You Can’t Ignore

As with any Dev Channel build, the rough edges outnumber the polished surfaces. Microsoft lists eight known issues that testers should seriously weigh before installing.

Rollbacks with error 0x80070005: A subset of machines may fail to install the build, rolling back automatically with this permissions error. Microsoft is investigating and recommends ensuring enough disk space and temporarily disabling third-party antivirus.
Visual Studio on Arm64: Developers running Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) applications on Arm64 may experience crashes, an issue that hints at deeper compatibility gaps in the emulation layer.
Click to Do: This new on-screen text and image action feature (introduced earlier in the Dev Channel) can crash or produce incorrect results. Testers should avoid relying on it for critical tasks.
Start menu layout inconsistencies: The pinned apps area may temporarily show fewer columns until a restart or resize, likely a side effect of the new mobile companion’s dynamic layout.
Taskbar pinned apps unpinned: After updating, some pinned taskbar icons may disappear and need to be re-pinned manually.
File Explorer dark mode colors: Drive space indicators may display inaccurate colors, making it harder to gauge remaining storage at a glance.
Live Captions crashes on Copilot+ PCs: The real-time translation feature can crash, a particularly disruptive bug for users who rely on accessibility aids.
Xbox controller crashes via Bluetooth: Connecting an Xbox controller over Bluetooth can trigger a system crash. This is likely a driver-level conflict and a serious annoyance for gamers.

The breadth of known issues suggests that Build 26200.5742 is still very much a testing ground. Casual Insiders may want to keep this build on a secondary machine, but adventurous testers should report issues via the Feedback Hub to help Microsoft pinpoint fixes.

A Steady March Toward a Cohesive Windows 11

Build 26200.5742 is a quintessential Dev Channel release: forward-looking features, aggressive under-the-hood cleanup, and a generous helping of known bugs. The Settings migrations are the standout here, consolidating configuration that has lived in two separate worlds since Windows 8 launched over a decade ago. By pulling additional clocks, time server sync, and keyboard repeat rate into the modern app, Microsoft is closing the gap that often forces users to launch Control Panel for one obscure setting.

Yet the move also invites criticism. Each small migration is a reminder of the slow dismantling of the Control Panel, and some power users argue that the Settings app remains less efficient for certain tasks—more clicks and search-dependent. Until every applet has a polished, feature-equivalent Settings page, the Control Panel’s ghost will linger.

The mobile companion is a more exciting innovation for mainstream users, bringing phone interactions right into the Start menu. If Microsoft can execute this without performance regressions (a big if, given the Start menu layout issues in this build), it could make Windows 11 a more compelling hub for multi-device workflows.

For now, Dev Channel Insiders get to kick the tires on these changes. Build 26200.5742 is available via Windows Update for those enrolled in the Dev Channel. As always, Microsoft recommends backing up important data before installing and keeping an eye on the Known Issues list. The pace of migration is picking up, and if this build is any indication, the Control Panel’s days are numbered.