Microsoft Drops 25-Year-Old WMIC From Windows 11 26H2 After August 2026
Updated
Updated · Neowin · Aug 14
Microsoft Drops 25-Year-Old WMIC From Windows 11 26H2 After August 2026
3 articles · Updated · Neowin · Aug 14
Summary
Windows 11 26H2 will no longer include WMIC at all, Microsoft confirmed in Release Preview notes tied to builds 26100.9267 and 26200.9267 under KB5120998.
WMIC was already disabled by default and offered only as a Feature on Demand, but 26H2 removes that fallback as Microsoft pushes users toward PowerShell and other WMI alternatives.
The command-line tool dates to Windows XP in 2001 and had long been used by admins for hardware, software and product-key queries before newer management tools overtook it.
Microsoft had been phasing WMIC out for years—deprecating it in Windows Server in 2016 and Windows 10 in 2021—making the 26H2 change the final step in that retirement.