Windows has always been sluggish in pushing out changes and new features. Some of these features, like the Xbox Mode, haven’t been fully released worldwide. Rolling out new features across regions understandably takes time, but waiting doesn’t have to be so dreadful.
For years, users relied on ViveTool, a free open-source utility that lets you enable hidden and experimental features on Windows, skipping the wait for the official rollout. However, Microsoft has made it obsolete by releasing Features Flags, a new tool that serves the same purpose as enabling upcoming and unavailable Windows features that, ironically, is also still in the experimental stage and not available to all.
What do Features Flags actually do?
Microsoft’s built-in answer to years of ViVeTool’s workarounds
Already rolling out to insiders and expected for a full-fledged release in the Fall 2026 update, Windows 11 is getting what seems to be one of the biggest power-user features. With ViVeTool, you have to enter a specific ID to enable certain features, but Features Flags will make the process much more convenient. For developers, a Feature Flag is a mechanism for enabling or disabling a feature without changing the underlying code, and Microsoft is implementing the same concept.
Previously, you had to enroll in the Windows Insider Program and then download a separate version of Windows to test these features, but the problem was that you’d be testing far more than the new features you wanted. With Features Flags, you can now test specific new features without sacrificing stability.
Under Features Flags, you’ll have three options: Enabled, Disabled, or No Override. Features Flags is integrated into Windows Update itself, so there’s not really a separate app to open, and you can select to enable upcoming or experimental features, such as Start Menu or other UI changes. You can enable multiple features at once and apply them together. Note that Windows might have to download these previews and changes to your PC to enable them.
This approach will be highly beneficial for Microsoft, as it will help them gather better feedback and adjust upcoming features accordingly. The thing is that for those who have access to Features Flags with some of the Insider builds, they’re getting access to new features quicker than those who are supposed to in the first place.
How to enable Features Flags right now
Two paths in, depending on how much you’re willing to skip
You can either wait until the Windows 11 26H2 update launches in the fall to get the Features Flags, or try two other hacks. The first is to join the Windows Insider program to get experimental features early. To do that, follow these steps:
- Open Settings.
- Go to Windows Update.
- Select Windows Insider Program.
- Select the Experimental toggle (Windows 11 26H1 is now available as a preview before it releases publicly).
- You’ll get the option to choose Windows 26H1 below to try.
Once on the preview build, you can now go enable the Features Flags under Advanced Options. Do keep in mind that receiving your preview build can take some time, usually 24 hours. Also, this will replace your current Windows build and take up additional space on your drive, so be mindful of that.
However, being on the preview build doesn’t guarantee Features Flag, and you’ll need ViVeTool to enable it. Funnily enough, Features Flags was first spotted by someone messing around with ViveTool and accidentally stumbling across it. Simply download the open-source tool from GitHub and follow these steps:
- Open CMD as administrator.
-
Enter the path where you installed ViVeTool. For me, it was
cd C:ViVeTool. -
Now, enter this command to enable the Features Flags:
vivetool /enable /id:60911173.
After you restart your PC, go to Windows Update -> Advanced Options -> Features Flags and enable several upcoming and experimental features without being on a preview build or the Windows Insider Program. However, this also means that you’ll be on a preview build, so stability for Windows 11 won’t be guaranteed, but you can always revert.
So long, ViVeTool
First Mach2, then ViVeTool; they’ve been right there for years, helping Windows users try out new features. I’ve personally used ViVeTool plenty of times and most recently used it to enable the new Xbox Mode, the wait I’d have to endure for months before Microsoft introduced the feature in my region. While it’s good that Microsoft is making ViVeTool obsolete with its own in-house version, it’s still a bittersweet moment, but fortunately I had one final use for it before scrapping it.