Microsoft is finally adding privacy tools to Windows 11 that block microphone and webcam access to apps

Published Aug 19, 2026, 2:23 AM EDT Simon is a Computer Science BSc graduate who has been writing about technology since 2014, and using Windows machines since 3.1. After working for an indie game studio and acting as the family's go-to technician for all computer issues, he found his passion for writing and decided to use his skill set to write about all things tech. Since beginning his writing career, he has written for many different publications such as WorldStart, Listverse, and MakeTechEasier. However, after finding his home at MakeUseOf in February 2019, he would eventually move on to its sister site, XDA, to bring the latest and greatest in Windows, Linux, and DIY electronics. Sign in to your XDA account Summary The latest Windows 11 Experimental build finally adds per‑app mic and camera toggles for Win32 apps. The feature appears in Experimental Insider build 26340.9212, and includes on/off toggles and recent‑app sorting. It's still experimental, so expect more refinement before rolling out to public PCs. After Microsoft came out of its Copilot-driven stupor earlier this year, we've seen the company focus its attention back on Windows 11. We've already seen the start of its big Windows K2 rollout, which aims to tackle some of the operating system's biggest pain points. Now, it seems the company is also taking note of the privacy concerns people have had with Windows 11, as it is adding a way to disable microphone and webcam access to certain Win32 apps. The Windows 11 Privacy & Security settings are getting camera and microphone controls It's still on the Experimental build for now This news comes to us via Jakub on X, who made a post covering the change on the Experimental branch for Windows 11. Microsoft is finally adding some much-needed controls over which apps can and cannot access your webcam and microphone, with a simple toggle for each one. It's not worth looking too deeply into what we can see in the screenshot in the X post; after all, we're looking at a work-in-progress screen that's on the Experimental branch, so there's plenty of time for stuff to change and improve. That being said, it's already shaping up quite nicely, with an easy-to-read UI that gives users a quick on-off toggle for each app on their system. I think this page would really benefit from a search bar to quickly find the app in question, but it looks like there's some kind of sorting where the apps you accessed most recently are closer to the top, which is a good middle ground. This screen is still in the Experimental build, so we'll have to wait for it to advance through all the testing builds before we see it on our home PCs. Still, it's good to see Microsoft finally adding ways to control which apps can see and hear us.