Checking if you're flighting

Sometimes it can be hard to tell if you’re running Windows Insider Preview Builds on your device and successfully receiving updates (known as flighting). There are some quick and easy ways to know your device's Insider Preview build and your Windows Insider settings.

To see the latest build number for your channel, check out Flight Hub.

Check for the watermark

If you’re on an Insider Preview build, you should be able to see a corresponding watermark. It's on the bottom right of your desktop, right above the time and date in your taskbar. The watermark tells you exactly which version of Windows you’re running.

Screenshot that shows Windows watermark for Windows 11 Insider Preview Builds showing Build 26300.

If you think you’re running preview builds but aren’t seeing the watermark, double-check which version you’re on with one of the other methods below.

Look at About in Settings

You can also see which version of Windows your device is on in the About section of Settings. Go to Settings > System > About > Windows specifications to see which edition, version, and OS build your device is on.

Screenshot of Windows About settings, scrolled down to the Windows specifications section to highlight your current OS build.

Run the winver command

Need a quick, easy way to pull up your Windows details? Just type winver into the search on your taskbar, then select it to run the command. A window opens telling you which version and Insider Preview build you’re on.

Screenshot that shows the About Windows module that pops up from running the winver command, highlighting the Build 26300.8170 that the device is on.

Check your build with PowerShell

Prefer to use PowerShell to check your build? Open PowerShell on your device, and in the prompt, type in:

Get-WmiObject win32_operatingsystem | select Version

Select enter, and it will pull up which version your device is on. The last numbers in the set are the Insider Preview build you’re on.

Screenshot that shows Windows PowerShell running this command to check your version, highlighting that you're on Build 26300.

Double-check your Windows Insider settings

If you check your device information and realize that you’re not on the build that you expected, review your Windows Insider Program settings. Go to Settings > Windows Upadate > Windows Insider Program. Check if your registered Insider account is connected and if you’re in the right channel. Learn more about our channels and what you can expect to see in each.

If everything there looks correct, but you still aren’t receiving updates, check out our troubleshooting guide for more help fixing your updates.

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