Microsoft drops a clanger by leaking a utility that can enable hidden features in Windows 11

In a bit of a blunder, Microsoft accidentally let some folks access a configuration tool that can be used to switch on hidden features in Windows 11, with the predictable result that the utility has ended up being spread all over the web.

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The app in question is called StagingTool, and it offers a command line interface that can enable features lurking in the background of test builds of Windows 11. You know, the features Microsoft has put the groundwork code in place for, but hasn't yet sent live.

All you need to know is the feature ID code to enable a piece of functionality in this way, and those codes tend to get discovered and posted on forums or social media here, there and everywhere.

Yes, this is a bit like the Windows configuration utility ViVeTool, except it's Microsoft's own version. Also, StagingTool can be used to circumvent A/B testing restrictions, whereby only some testers get a certain feature rolled out.

How did StagingTool get loose on the web? Windows Central reports that a link to the tool was accidentally shared via Microsoft's Feedback Hub in a bug bash quest. That link was supposed to be for internal staff at Microsoft only, but as you can imagine, once some members of the computing public got hold of it, the genie was out of the bottle.

Microsoft has, of course, pulled the link, but StagingTool had been pretty widely downloaded at that point.

In short, we can likely expect more leaks about upcoming features for Windows 11, as even more testers are likely to be prodding around in the innards of the OS looking for stuff going forward.