Sorry, no preview releases for Windows 10 this December

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Surface Go 2 (Image credit: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central)

What you need to know

  • Microsoft won't release any preview releases for Windows 10 in December.
  • The pause is due to the holidays.
  • Monthly preview releases will resume in January 2021.

Microsoft won't roll out any preview releases for Windows 10 in December 2020. The company added a brief note to a support page that explains the pause.

IMPORTANT Because of minimal operations during the holidays and the upcoming Western new year, there won't be any preview releases for the month of December 2020. Monthly servicing will resume with the January 2021 security releases.

Rather than being connected to the global pandemic, which caused a pause of optional updates earlier this year, the December pause is due to the holidays.

Note that Microsoft only mentions that preview releases will be paused over the holidays. Other normally scheduled cumulative updates should still roll out as normal.

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2020 has been a long year, and a break for the Windows 10 update team is well-deserved. Microsoft notes that normal monthly servicing will resume in January 2021 with security releases.

Windows 10 usually receives an update on the second Tuesday of the month, frequently known as Patch Tuesday. Optional updates then usually appear later each month.

Sean Endicott
News Writer

Sean Endicott is a News Writer at Windows Central, where he covers Windows 11, Surface hardware, Microsoft 365, AI, apps, and the broader PC ecosystem. Since joining the site in 2017, he has written well over a thousand articles across the Microsoft landscape, covering breaking news, analysis, and feature reporting.

He writes Windows Wrap, a weekly column covering the biggest stories in Windows and the PC industry, and what they mean for the platform going forward.

Before joining Windows Central full-time, Sean worked in journalism and media production after earning a First Class degree in Broadcast Journalism from Nottingham Trent University. Outside of tech, he is an award-winning American football coach based in Nottingham, England, and was named BAFCA Youth Coach of the Year in 2024.