Microsoft wants to further ease Bluetooth pairing with Windows 20H1

A new test version of Windows 10 has a simplified procedure for pairing Bluetooth devices. For the time being, the method mainly works with Microsoft’s own Surface accessories.

Microsoft released build version 18985 of the Windows 10 Insider Preview Build codenamed 20H1 on Friday. One of the changes concerns Swift Pair. This is the method to pair bluetooth devices with a single click without having to go to the settings. Microsoft introduced Swift Pair in February 2018.

The changes are that the entire pairing procedure now takes place via notifications and that the rejection of pairing can also be done directly with the first notification. In addition, there is one less notification than with the old version of Swift Pair and the pop-ups now show, if the accessory supports this, the name and category of the bluetooth device.

For now, the technology only works for half of Windows Insider users and in combination with the Precision Mouse, Mobile Mouse, Arc Mouse, Ergonomic Keyboard and Headphones in the Surface series and with the Microsoft Modern Mobile and Arc Mouse. In 2018, Microsoft already reported working with third parties to expand support. It is unknown when the company will add more devices to the list.

Windows 20H1 is scheduled for early next year. The next update for Windows 10, 19H2, is a minor release with mostly bug fixes.