Microsoft has rolled out a fresh batch of console features for Xbox Insiders, giving players more ways to personalize their setup, manage how they appear to others, and navigate their game libraries faster. The update, announced September 9, 2026, by Senior Product Manager Alex Charters and Principal Software Engineering Lead Eden Marie, is available to Xbox Insiders starting today.
Pick Your Startup Animation
One of the headline additions is the ability to choose which startup animation plays when you power on your Xbox console. Microsoft introduced a new startup animation to Insiders earlier this year, but today’s update goes further by letting players pick from a range of animations that span from the Xbox One era through the current generation.
Whether you want to relive an older generation’s boot screen or stick with the latest look, the choice is now yours. Players can access this setting under Settings > System > Startup. The existing option to toggle sound on or off for the startup animation remains in place alongside the new selection.
More Control Over Your Badge Showcase
Last month, Xbox gave Insiders a closer look at how badge-earning details are displayed. Today’s update builds on that by giving players direct control over what others actually see on their profile. Insiders can now feature up to five badges in their profile card showcase, selecting which ones take the spotlight. On top of that, individual badges can be hidden from the public profile entirely.
This kind of granular control over profile presentation has been a frequently requested feature. Players who have stacked up dozens of badges over the years now have a clean way to highlight the ones that mean the most without cluttering their profile card with every badge they have ever earned.
Local Search for Games and Achievements
Digging through long lists of games or achievements to find a specific one has always been more tedious than it should be. Xbox is addressing that with a new local search feature, also going live for Insiders today. The search tool lets players quickly find specific games and achievements within large lists rather than scrolling manually.
According to Microsoft, local search is available in My games and apps, official club achievement lists, and profile achievement history. It works alongside the existing filter and sorting options already in place, so players are not losing any of the tools they already use – they are simply getting a faster way to drill down to what they need.
Background Improvements for Cloud Gaming and Party Chat
Beyond the visible customization features, this update also includes background work aimed at improving how cloud gaming and party chat perform. Microsoft noted these improvements are designed to help both features run more reliably without requiring players to dig through any additional settings. The goal, according to Charters and Marie, is to help players spend less time navigating menus and more time actually playing.
How to Access the Xbox Insider Features
All of these features are currently exclusive to Xbox Insiders. If you are already enrolled in the Xbox Insider Program, the update should be available to you starting today. For players not yet in the program, the Xbox Insider Hub app on console is the entry point for signing up and getting early access to features like these before they roll out more broadly.
Microsoft has not confirmed a wider rollout date for any of these features beyond the current Insider testing phase. As with all Insider updates, feedback gathered during this period typically shapes the final version of each feature before it reaches the general player base.