Windows 11 26H2 has a new Assisted Setup experience, but I have some questions

• Assisted Setup is a new Windows 11 experience that helps users finish configuring a PC after the initial OOBE.
• The feature opens the Get Started app with options for apps, website pins, personalization, and Windows Update.
• The current experience mostly redirects users to existing features instead of providing a fully integrated setup process.
• Microsoft could make it more useful by giving users greater control over recommendations and adding more direct setup guidance.

Windows 11 is getting a new Assisted Setup experience designed to help users finish configuring their computers after the initial setup.

The feature is available starting with build 26340.9354, but Microsoft hasn’t said when it’ll become available to everyone. It’s expected to be part of Windows 11 26H2, although the experience could also make its way to versions 25H2 and 24H2.

Assisted Setup is the last option during the Out-of-box Experience (OOBE). On the “Your PC is ready” page, users can choose between “Show optional setup” and “Go to desktop.” This is where I started having some second thoughts about the feature.

If you choose “Go to desktop,” Windows takes you straight to the desktop, and you can start using the computer.

If you choose “Show optional setup,” Windows also takes you to the desktop, but it automatically opens the Get Started app.

Microsoft presents this as an optional way to finish setting up a computer with guidance for installing apps, personalizing the operating system, and checking for updates.

The problem is that this isn’t really a new setup experience. At least in its current form, it’s mostly a pointer that opens the existing Get Started app and sends you to different parts of Windows 11.

Assisted Setup should do more than open existing settings

I’m fine with the company making it easier for people to finish configuring a new computer. In fact, I think it is a good idea.

However, I expected Assisted Setup to be more integrated into the OOBE instead of simply handing users off to another app.

For example, if Microsoft is going to recommend apps, the experience should explain why those apps are useful and let users decide what they want to install. Instead, the list of “popular” apps feels more like another opportunity to promote software.

Some of these apps already appear as recommendations or promotions in the Start menu. If Microsoft wants to use Assisted Setup to recommend software, I would rather see Windows 11 arrive without unnecessary apps and promotions, and then let users decide what they want through this experience.

This would make the feature feel like a useful part of Windows Setup, not another place where the software giant can promote apps.

Microsoft should let users choose their own websites

The company also uses Assisted Setup to recommend websites users may want to pin to the Taskbar.

Again, I understand the idea, but the curated list makes the feature feel more like a collection of promoted links.

I would find this much more useful if Microsoft simply let users enter a website and have the system create the Taskbar pin automatically.

For example, if I want quick access to a website that isn’t on Microsoft’s list, I should be able to type the address, click a button, and have the shortcut created.

That would turn this part of Assisted Setup into an actual configuration tool instead of another list of recommendations.

Personalization needs more guidance

The personalization section is more useful, but it still feels incomplete. Right now, the experience essentially sends users to the Settings app to make changes. That’s fine for someone who already knows the operating system, but a new user may not know where to find the settings they need or what each option does.

This is where I think Microsoft could make Assisted Setup much more useful.

Instead of simply opening Settings, the experience could show the available themes directly and let users choose one. The company could also add short video tutorials later that explain how to change the desktop background, colors, themes, Taskbar settings, and other common options.

That would make the feature genuinely helpful for someone setting up Windows for the first time.

Windows Update option feels unnecessary

The option to check for updates is another part I don’t think needs to be in Assisted Setup.

Keeping the operating system updated is important, but Windows Update already works automatically. Selecting this option simply takes the user to the settings page.

At that point, I’m not sure what Assisted Setup is actually adding.

If Microsoft wants this section to be useful, it should do more than send users to a settings page that already handles updates automatically.

Assisted Setup has the right idea, but it needs more work

I like the idea behind Assisted Setup. Helping people finish configuring a new computer could make the first few minutes with Windows 11 much easier, especially for users who aren’t familiar with the operating system.

However, Microsoft needs to make the experience more than a collection of shortcuts to existing features.

The OOBE would be the right place to guide users through the important parts of the operating system, let them choose what they actually want, and explain what each option does.

I would also like to see the software giant end the promotional feel of the experience. If Assisted Setup is supposed to help users configure Windows 11, it should put the user in control instead of giving Microsoft another place to recommend apps and websites.

Right now, Assisted Setup feels like a good idea that hasn’t been taken far enough.