How to enroll your PC in the Windows Insider program step by step

¿How do I enroll my PC in the Windows Insider program? If you enjoy tinkering with Windows and trying out features before anyone else, the Windows Insider Program It's your gateway to preview builds of Windows 11 and Windows 10. In exchange for your feedback, Microsoft sends you early versions of the system, with new features and changes that haven't yet reached the general public, so you can test them and fine-tune them.

Before you jump in, it's worth knowing that these builds are for testing purposes: They can fail, they expire, and they are not very stable. like the final editions. If that doesn't deter you, here you'll find a very complete guide to signing up, choosing a channel, installing the builds, sending feedback, checking your version, leave whenever you want and even return to a stable, uncomplicated edition.

What exactly is Windows Insider?

Windows Insider is an official Microsoft community where users test Insider Preview versions (evaluation builds) of Windows 11 and Windows 10. In return, Microsoft gives you the Feedback Hub app so you can report bugs, suggest improvements, and help shape new features in development.

The program is designed for those who wish to be involved in the development process: developers, IT professionals, businesses and enthusiasts They want to experiment with early-stage ideas and provide real-world usage data to improve the product. Participation is also possible with corporate credentials, allowing organizations to evaluate Insider builds at an enterprise level.

For years, Microsoft structured the program by “rings” (fast, slow, and Release Preview), in addition to three inner rings For employees (Canary, Windows and Devices Group, and Microsoft), changes were validated before being released to the community. Today, the public experience is grouped into channels, but the philosophy remains: the sooner the new feature arrives, more risk you take.

The appeal for the curious user is twofold: you become one of the first to try each new feature and you help improve the system with your feedback. However, it's worth noting that Insider builds receive frequent updates and they can disrupt your workflow with restarts or unexpected behavior.

Advantages, risks, and when to use it

Being part of Insider lets you see and use unreleased features which will still take time to reach the general public. For many, it's the best way to learn, experiment, or prepare deployments ahead of time. There were even periods when, while you were in the program, you had Windows 10 operating system with evaluation builds, although they do not equate to perpetual licenses for final versions.

On the negative side, there are two important points: firstly, there is less stability and Bugs may appear that impact your daily life; on the other hand, the pace of updates is higher than in the stable channel, so you will have to download patches and restart more frequently.

Practical conclusion: If your PC is for work or you need it for critical tasks, avoid the most aggressive channels. For a secondary or testing computer, It's a great optionIf you're looking for a balance between novelty and reliability, the most conservative channel (Release Preview) is the one that gives the fewest surprises.

Canals and rings: from the past to the present

Today, the Insider builds that the public can choose are organized into channels: Dev (Developer), Beta y release previewDev is the most advanced and has the most early-stage changes; Beta aims to stabilize key features before release; Release Preview anticipates small, cumulative improvements and drivers. maximum stability.

Historically, Microsoft spoke of rings: Fast (more updates, less stability), Slow (more filtering, greater stability), and Release Preview (closest to production). Furthermore, internally, everything went through... Canary, Windows and Devices Group and Microsoft Ring, which was handled solely by employees. Although the vocabulary has evolved, the idea remains: the earlier the change, the greater the risk.

A practical example? Anyone who wants to play with groundbreaking innovations And don't worry about bugs; you should check out the Dev channel. Those who prefer something in between should go to Beta. And those who want a discreet but stable preview should go to Release Preview. Same spirit as the old rings, but with adapted names and cadences.

Requirements and preparation before registering

To install Insider builds on your PC, you must run a licensed copy of Windows on the target computer. If you need to perform a clean install of Windows or reinstall a valid edition, do so before joining the program. Alternatively, you can download an Insider Preview ISO and boot from it if that's more convenient for you.

It's normal for your computer to restart several times during setup. To avoid losing your work, save everything and close all applications. Helpful tip: make a backup For important information, consider noting or favorite this tutorial so you have it handy if your PC restarts mid-process.

Check your system language. Insider builds are available in numerous editions (SKUs). Supported SKU languages: Arabic (Saudi Arabia), Bulgarian (Bulgaria), Chinese (Simplified, China), Chinese (Traditional, Taiwan), Croatian (Croatia), Czech (Czech Republic), Danish (Denmark), Dutch (Netherlands), English (United Kingdom), English (United States), Estonian (Estonia), Finnish (Finland), French (Canada), French (France), German (Germany), Greek (Greece), Hebrew (Israel), Hungarian (Hungary), Italian (Italy), Japanese (Japan), Korean (Korea), Latvian (Latvia), Lithuanian (Lithuania), Norwegian Bokmål (Norway), Polish (Poland), Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Romanian (Romania), Russian (Russia), Serbian (Latin, Serbia), Slovak (Slovakia), Slovenian (Slovenia), Spanish (Mexico), Spanish (Spain, international order), Swedish (Sweden), Thai (Thailand), Turkish (Turkey), Ukrainian (Ukraine).

There are also packages of language interface (LIP) For more languages: Afrikaans (South Africa), Albanian (Albania), Amharic, Armenian, Assamese, Azeri (Latin, Azerbaijan), Bangla (Bangladesh), Bangla (India), Basque, Belarusian (Belarus), Bosnian (Latin), Catalan (Catalan), Cherokee (Cherokee), Dari, Filipino (Philippines), Galician (Galician), Georgian, Gujarati, Hindi (India), Icelandic, Indonesian (Indonesia), Irish, Kannada, Kazakh (Kazakhstan), Khmer (Cambodia), Swahili, Konkani, Kyrgyz, Lao (Laos), Luxembourgish, Macedonian (North Macedonia), Malay (Malaysia), Malayalam, Maltese, Maori, Marathi, Mongolian (Cyrillic), Nepali, Norwegian (nynorsk), Odia, Persian, Punjabi, Quechua, Scottish Gaelic, Serbian (Cyrillic, Bosnia and Herzegovina), Serbian (Cyrillic, Serbia), Sindhi (Arabic), Sinhala, Tamil (India), Tatar, Telugu, Turkmen, Urdu, Uighur, Uzbek (Latin, Uzbekistan), Valencian, Vietnamese, Welsh.

Finally, don't forget the legal part: to join you have to accept the Program Contract and the Privacy Statement. If you register as a business, you can do so with a professional account to manage Insider at an organizational level.

How to sign up for and activate Insider builds in Windows 11 and Windows 10

Windows 11: Activate Insider from Settings

1. Opens Settings > Windows Update > Windows Insider Program on your Windows 11 PC.
2. press Contac us and choose Link an accountSelect the same Microsoft account you used to register.
3. The system may ask you to activate the optional data collection To continue; follow the instructions if they appear.
4. Choose Insider channel (Dev, Beta or Release Preview) and click on Continue.
5. Review the program's notifications and confirm. Then, select Restart now or restart later.
6. After restarting, go to Settings > Windows Update and press Search for updates to download your first Insider build.

Windows 10: Activate Insider from Settings

1. Accede to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Insider Program.
2. press Contac us & AFTER Link an account to link your Microsoft account.
3. Select the channel which you want to participate in and confirm with RSVP.
4. Review the terms, confirm again, and choose. Restart now to apply the changes.
5. When you return, open it Windows Update and press Search for updates to install the build corresponding to your channel.

In both cases, after restarting, it's advisable to check that the level of diagnoses and data is at the required value to receive preview builds. If everything is correct, Windows Update will download the Insider build and prompt you to restart; the process works the same as with any other Insider build. windows update.

Installation using ISO and background information from the Technical Preview

If you prefer to start from an ISO, you can download an image from Windows Insider Preview and install from USB or DVD. This method was common during the Windows 10 Technical Preview era, and it remains useful for clean installations or virtual machines.

At that stage, Microsoft recommended using a secondary computer or a virtual machine because the software was still under development and errors could occur. minimum requirements The Windows 10 Technical Preview requirements were very similar to those of Windows 8.1: 1 GHz CPU, 1 GB of RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB (64-bit), 16 GB of space, a graphics card with DirectX 9 and a WDDM driver, plus a Microsoft account and internet access.

At that time, the Technical Preview was only available for x86 architecture and with few languages (English—US and UK—, Simplified Chinese, and Brazilian Portuguese); over time, language support grew, as you've already seen in the requirements section. As a historical nod, when Fast Ring deployment mode was enabled, updates arrived with the prefix “fbl"(Feature Branch Level), a sign that they were bringing features in testing.

Typical steps with an ISO: create an installation medium (USB/DVD), run setup.exeAccept the terms, choose whether to keep personal files (when possible), and follow the wizard until you click “Install”. The computer restarts several times, and when finished, the initial setup screens are displayed to define network, privacy, and user account.

How to stop receiving Insider builds and return to a stable version

When you've tested enough or need total stability, you can exclude the team with the next production build or restore the system to its original state. Microsoft recommends exiting if your device is already running a production build, which is more stable and requires less maintenance.

First, make sure you're on a production build (if that's your goal) and have your release, version, and build number information handy. You can find this in Settings> System> About or writing winver After pressing Windows + R; it's the quick way to check your operating system build.

To exit from Settings in Windows 11, go to Windows Update > Windows Insider Program and choose Stop getting previews. In Windows 10, go to Updates and Security > Windows Insider Program and activate the option “Stop getting pre-release versions”Complete the steps and the system will handle the exclusion with the next production build.

If you prefer to return to a stable version immediately, the cleanest way is to restore your system with a recovery image appropriate (Windows 10 or Windows 11, depending on your case). First of all, back up your data; once the important information is backed up, start the restoration process with the corresponding image for reinstall the system.

How to check your build and send feedback

To check the installed Insider build, go to Settings> System> About And look at the "Operating System Build" value. This tells you if you're on the correct build for the feature you're looking for (for example, if you're looking for a specific feature associated with a channel).

Sending feedback is the heart of the program. Open the Opinion Center (Feedback Hub) to tell us what works, what doesn't, or what you'd like to see. You can participate in missions, bug bashes, and other initiatives, and your feedback reaches us. directly to the engineers responsible parties. The clearer, more reproducible, and more documented the report, the more useful it will be.

Early functions and the role of Copilot

The Insider program is the early access platform for many Windows features. According to the information in the guides you've read, the Dev channel It's the way to try some advanced experiences before anyone else, including Microsoft Copilot, which in that context was only available to Insiders.

If your priority is tinkering with new capabilities For productivity and AI, Dev is usually the right branch, knowing that it carries more unstable changes. To evaluate improvements with fewer surprises, Beta offers a good balance, and Release Preview lets you see what's coming next with the least possible risk.

Practical tips before you begin

Some final reminders: work, if you can, on a secondary team; make a backup Before making any major build jumps; and, if you're up for the more advanced channel, expect additional reboots and the occasional rollback. Keep a recovery tool handy in case you want to revert to a previous version without wasting time.

Once you sign up and complete the steps, the initial downloads may take some time; on mid-range hardware, a large update may take a while. take between 30 and 90 minutesDon't despair: it's normal to see multiple restarts, and Windows usually preserves files and settings during the update process.

For those who have made it this far, the essential thing is that you now know what Insider is, how to register, how to activate builds in Windows 11 and 10, and what each channel consists of. how to send feedbackHow to revert to a stable build and what preparations minimize risks. From now on, it's all about choosing the channel that best suits your tolerance for change and venturing into trying out the new features with a level head.