Windows 11 will soon let you block camera and mic access for any individual desktop app

Windows 11 will soon give you greater control over the permissions your apps have. A new feature hidden away in the latest Experimental Insider Build (26340.9212) lets you block access to your camera and microphone on a per-app basis for Win32 apps.

The change was spotted by X user @jakub25050. Well-known Windows sleuth @phantomofearth confirmed that the change appears on their system as well when running build 26340.9212 and after enabling Win32SignatureIdentity (60730253). On X, @jakub25050 noted that they did not have to enable any feature flags.

Microsoft did not discuss the change in the official release notes for the latest Windows Insider build.

This behavior will feel familiar to most people who use a smartphone, since both iOS and Android have fine-tuned privacy controls. Windows 11 has also supported this functionality for other types of apps for a while.

What’s changing with Windows 11 privacy settings?

Windows 11 already has an option that allows or blocks desktop apps from accessing things like your microphone or camera. But you can only enable or disable those permissions on a per-app basis for certain types of apps.

The feature in testing right now allows you to toggle camera and microphone permissions on a per-app basis for Win32 apps. That’s a massive addition since many popular programs are Win32 apps, such as Discord, Chrome, and game launchers like Steam.

The current way app permissions work means that to use your webcam on a browser like Chrome, you’d also need to have your settings configured to let other desktop apps access your webcam.

I’ve seen some debate about when the per-app option for Win32 apps rolled out to Windows 11. While Windows 11 has had the option to grant or deny permissions for years, that choice was limited to UWP/MSIX apps and was not available for Win32 apps.

Build 26340.9212 started shipping to Insiders in the Experimental Channel on August 17, 2026. Assuming testing goes well, we could see the expanded app controls roll out to everyone in the near future.

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