How to Build Tiny11 ISO for Windows 11 26H2

Tiny11 is a community-modified version of Windows 11 that strips out apps and services you don’t need. This guide covers how to get a verified Tiny11 ISO for Windows 11 26H2, either by downloading a prebuilt release or building one yourself from an official Microsoft ISO.

Should You Use Tiny11 for Windows 11 26H2

Tiny11 fits some use cases well and creates problems in others, so check your situation before you start.

Tiny11 works well if you’re running hardware that meets Windows 11’s functional requirements but not its official TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot requirements, since the builder script includes installer bypasses for those checks. It also suits low-overhead VMs for development or testing, and older secondary machines that won’t run production workloads.

Tiny11 is probably the wrong choice if:

• This is your primary machine and you need consistent long-term security patching. Tiny11 depends entirely on Windows Update, and there’s no guarantee stripped components stay stripped after cumulative updates.
• You need enterprise features, BitLocker, or a configuration that requires an unmodified Windows image.
• You plan to rely on Microsoft support, since Microsoft won’t diagnose issues on a modified image.

What Apps and Features Tiny11 Removes from Windows 11

Tiny11 is built using the open-source tiny11builder script maintained by the ntdevlabs project on GitHub, with no affiliation to Microsoft.

During the build, the script removes apps such as Clipchamp, News, Weather, Xbox, Get Help, Media Player, Quick Assist, OneDrive, Copilot, Outlook, Microsoft Teams, and Edge. It also bypasses the Microsoft account requirement for local account setup, and enables Compact OS to shrink the install size.

Tiny11 is not a frozen image. Windows Update runs normally after installation, and cumulative patches may restore components the builder removed. Keep this in mind if holding a specific minimal configuration matters for your use case.

Prerequisites for Building a Tiny11 26H2 ISO

Confirm these before you download or build anything.

• A target machine or VM with enough storage for the ISO, the extracted build files, and the install itself. Plan for roughly 70 GB free on the primary drive.
• A legitimate Windows 11 license key.
• PowerShell, if you’re taking the build-your-own path.
• 7-Zip or Windows Explorer, if the release comes as a compressed archive.
• Rufus (from rufus.ie) to write the ISO to a USB drive, for physical installs.
• Hyper-V, VirtualBox, or VMware, for VM installs, with the ability to mount an ISO as a virtual optical drive.

Tiny11 does not support in-place upgrades, so plan for a clean install regardless of which path you take.

Step 1: Confirm the Release Status Before Downloading Anything

Go directly to the tiny11builder GitHub repository. If you search for it instead, confirm you’ve landed on the ntdevlabs repository before downloading anything, since third-party mirrors frequently host repackaged images with modifications you can’t audit.

On the repository page, check the Releases section for a build targeting Windows 11 26H2, and confirm the release notes state the base Windows build it was built against.

Then check the release assets for a published SHA-256 checksum. A release without a checksum isn’t independently verifiable, so treat the build-your-own path as your only reliable option in that case.

If any page in this flow asks for an email address, a survey, or routes you through an ad click before the download starts, close the tab. That’s not GitHub.

Option A: Download the Prebuilt ISO

Use this path only if a 26H2 release exists in the repository with a published SHA-256 checksum.

Download the ISO or archive listed under the 26H2 release assets and save it somewhere you’ll remember. If the download comes as a .zip archive, extract the .iso file using 7-Zip or Windows Explorer first.

Verify the file hash in PowerShell before doing anything else with it:

Get-FileHash C:\path\to\tiny11_26H2_x64.iso -Algorithm SHA256

Compare the output against the checksum in the GitHub release notes character by character. A mismatch means a corrupted download or a tampered file. Delete and re-download once before drawing conclusions, and if the hash still doesn’t match, switch to Option B.

Option B: Build the ISO Yourself (Recommended)

Building from a Microsoft-distributed source gives you verifiable provenance instead of trust in a binary someone else assembled. This is the safer path if no verified 26H2 release exists yet, or if you’d rather control the source material directly. Follow these steps.

1. Get the source ISO. Download the official Windows 11 26H2 ISO from Microsoft’s Windows 11 download page. If 26H2 is still in preview, use UUP Dump instead:
   • Select the latest x64 build (26300.xxxx or higher). Use the arm64 build if you’re on a Copilot+ PC or ARM device.
   • Pick your language and select the editions to include.
   • Choose “Download and convert to ISO” and check “Include updates” so the script bakes in the latest patches. This conversion can take close to an hour.
2. Download the tiny11builder script directly from the ntdevlabs repository, not from a third-party copy. Confirm the current script filename against the repository, since it has been named tiny11maker.ps1 in past releases but this can change.
3. Right-click the ISO file in Windows Explorer and select Mount, then note the drive letter Windows assigns it.
4. Open PowerShell as Administrator and set the execution policy so the script can run:

Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser

5. Navigate to the folder containing the script and run it:

.\tiny11maker.ps1

6. Follow the prompts to complete the build:
   • Enter the source drive letter and an output path for the resulting ISO.
   • Confirm the index number for the Windows edition to build. UUP Dump sources may show only one or two options.
   • Set your output path carefully. The script writes working files there too, so avoid folders with files you need to keep, and don’t interrupt the process once it starts.
7. Check that a new .iso file appears at your output path with no error messages in the PowerShell window. Run Get-FileHash on that file and record the hash for future reference.
8. Revert the execution policy once you’re done:

Set-ExecutionPolicy Restricted -Scope CurrentUser

If you hit an issue while running the UUP Dump script, open the script folder, right-click Remove_Failure_MountDr_TempDir.cmd, select Run as administrator, and run UUP Dump again after that completes.

Writing the ISO to a USB Drive

Skip this section for VM installs and attach the ISO directly as a virtual optical drive in Hyper-V, VirtualBox, or VMware instead. For physical installation, follow these steps.

1. Plug in your USB drive. This erases all existing data on it, so back up anything you need first.
2. Open Rufus. Under Boot selection, click SELECT and choose your verified Tiny11 ISO.
3. Set the partition scheme to GPT and the target system to UEFI (non-CSM), unless your target hardware requires legacy BIOS, in which case switch to MBR.
4. Click START. Rufus may show a “Windows User Experience” dialog with options to bypass TPM, Secure Boot, and RAM checks. Select the options that match your hardware. These bypasses only affect the installer’s behavior; they don’t change Microsoft’s official hardware support policy.
5. Wait for Rufus to show READY in green. The drive is done at that point.
6. Boot your target machine from the USB using its BIOS or firmware boot menu.

After Installation

The first few steps after install tend to get skipped, and they matter.

Check activation first. If it doesn’t activate automatically with your license key, resolve that before configuring anything else. Then run Windows Update once, deliberately, to establish a clean patch baseline and surface any compatibility issues early.

If you installed to a VM, take a snapshot before installing any other software. A clean post-install snapshot gives you a fast path back to a known-good state later.

Keep the original Microsoft ISO you downloaded. If you ever need to rebuild, starting from a verified Microsoft source is faster than tracking down another copy. Before any future rebuild, check the Commits section of the ntdevlabs repository to see whether the script has changed since your last build. Running an outdated builder against a newer Windows base image can produce inconsistent results.

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Guides

• How to Disable Automatic Updates on Windows 11: Temporary Pause and Permanent Methods
• Windows 11 26H2 Compatibility Checker: Is Your PC Ready?
• How to Install Windows 11 26H2 Early Before the Official Release