Microsoft removes mandatory clean install requirement for a Windows 11-exclusive feature

This past week Microsoft released its latest Insider build for Windows 11 Insiders on the Dev and Beta channels. The new build, 22620.7344, under KB5070316, brings a lot of new features including improvements to how app updates are carried out.

While that is the latest build for the Dev and Beta channels, in November, a previous build on those channels, 26220.7070, under KB5070300, introduced another interesting change that is somewhat significant, especially if you are someone who is looking forward to performance improvements.

In the build, the company confirmed that a Windows security feature called "Smart App Control" no longer has a mandatory requirement.

For those who may not be familiar, Smart App Control is an intelligent cloud-based security service that Microsoft introduced back in 2022. It is one of the few Windows 11-exclusive security features as it is not available on Windows 10, which is one of the reasons why Microsoft recommended users to upgrade to Windows 11 from 10 via a clean installation and not an in-place upgrade as a clean install is required to enable the Smart App control feature.

On the release notes Microsoft wrote: "We’re updating Smart App Control (SAC) so you will now be able to switch SAC off or on without any clean install requirement. To make changes, go to Windows Security > App & Browser Control > Smart App Control settings. When it’s on, it helps block untrusted or potentially harmful apps."

What makes this feature rather interesting is that it is supposed to help with performance too. Thanks to its proactive nature Microsoft says it is better in this regard compared to traditional anti-malware solutions which are more reactive. The company stated "An advantage of Smart App Control is its lighter impact on your PC’s performance. Since it helps block harmful apps before they can run. This means less strain on your system, so you can keep working or gaming without worrying about slowdowns." Thus a while a fairly powerful system user may not notice it, Smart App Control could help a PC with fewer resources at its disposal perform better, according to Microsoft.

This change is currently still in testing though and it will be interesting to see when it becomes generally available, likely early next year. We will get a better clue when it enters the release preview channel.

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Posted Monday 8 December 2025 at 11:16 am AEST (my time).

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