Latest Windows 11 Beta Build Brings Voice Isolation Feature & More

Microsoft has wrapped up this week with four new builds. As for Windows 11 Insiders in Beta channel, the company has released Build 26220.8491. This one focuses on improving the overall experience while also adding a new accessibility feature called Voice Isolation.

Windows 11 now gets Voice Isolation inside Voice Access

The biggest highlight of the Beta channel Build 26220.8491 is Voice Isolation. As the name suggests, the feature helps Voice Access focus specifically on your voice even when other people are speaking nearby. In simple words, if you are sitting inside a noisy office, shared room, or even around family members talking in the background, Windows should now better isolate your voice commands while filtering surrounding conversations and unwanted sounds.

Microsoft says all processing happens directly on-device, meaning voice data never leaves the PC. Interestingly, the company is now offering three different speech recognition modes under Voice Access settings:

• Voice Isolation
• Remove background noise only
• No filtering

Voice Isolation itself requires a short setup process where users read a paragraph aloud so Windows can learn their voice pattern.

Microsoft also fixes taskbar crashes and muted audio issues

Besides adding Voice Isolation, the build also fixes several annoying bugs reported by testers in previous flights. One major fix addresses the cyclical explorer.exe crashing issue that caused taskbars and screens to repeatedly refresh or flicker for some users.

Microsoft additionally patched a bug where the Energy Saver quick setting appeared twice, alongside another issue that unexpectedly muted audio on certain devices. That being said, there is still one notable known issue in this build. Microsoft says “Reset this PC” may still get stuck unless users select the cloud download option instead of local reset.