Minecraft Preview is a separate Bedrock Edition app that lets players who own the game try unreleased features before they reach the regular release. It does not exist on Java Edition. It keeps its own worlds and settings, and the Xbox store page warns that Preview builds may be unstable.
What Minecraft Preview is
Preview is an application, not a setting. The Minecraft Wiki describes it as a separate app for testing beta features from Bedrock Edition, replacing the earlier system of opt-in beta content inside Bedrock itself. Mojang Studios develops it. The wiki lists Windows, Xbox and PlayStation, plus a limited number of users on iOS and iPadOS. It gave Preview 26.60.30 as the latest entry when we read it on 10 October 2026.
It is not a free trial. The Xbox store page says Preview is only available to players who own Minecraft.
Who Preview is for
Preview suits players who want to see upcoming Bedrock features early, add-on creators who want to check their work against what is coming, and anyone happy to report bugs. It does not suit a player whose main world matters more than the new feature, because worlds played in Preview do not transfer to the retail game, according to the Xbox store page.
How Preview differs from Java snapshots
Our page on what a Minecraft snapshot is covers Java snapshots, so this page does not repeat it. The point to keep here: the Minecraft Wiki marks Preview as exclusive to Bedrock Edition and describes it as a separate application. If you are unsure which edition you own, Minecraft Java vs Bedrock Edition sets them apart.
How Preview differs from the release and from Beta
Before Preview, Bedrock players opted into beta content inside the game itself. Preview moved that into its own app. Against the regular Bedrock release, the Xbox store page and the Minecraft Wiki list these differences.
| Topic | In Preview |
|---|---|
| Multiplayer | Cannot join non-Preview players' games (Xbox store page) |
| Servers and Realms | Not compatible with regular Bedrock servers, uses a separate server version; Realms owners get a separate Realms server (Minecraft Wiki) |
| Worlds | Worlds played in Preview do not transfer to the retail game (Xbox store page) |
| Settings | Most settings, including Family Settings, are not kept from the retail game (Xbox store page) |
| Marketplace | Owned content works in Preview; purchases use your Minecoin balance and transfer to the retail game (Xbox store page) |
| Achievements | Not available (Minecraft Wiki) |
| Subscriptions | Realms and Marketplace Pass cannot be managed from Preview (Minecraft Wiki) |
| Exclusive options | The Render Dragon Features for Creators experiment, with point light features and vanilla light colors for Vibrant Visuals (Minecraft Wiki) |
Preview also shows debug information at the top of the screen, and its only splash text is "Preview!!!", the wiki says.
Risks to worlds and add-ons
The store page says Preview builds may be unstable and do not represent final quality. Combined with worlds that cannot move to the retail game, the safe habit is to back up your worlds and to test in a throwaway world.
For add-on users, the sources do not say which add-ons break in a given Preview, and we did not test any. What they do say is that Preview carries features the release does not have yet, so a Bedrock add-on written for the release may behave differently there. If one misbehaves, Fix Add-Ons Not Working in Minecraft Bedrock is the next page.
How to get Preview safely
The Minecraft Wiki says Preview is on the Microsoft Store for Windows players who own Bedrock or hold an active Xbox Game Pass Premium, Ultimate or PC Game Pass subscription. On Xbox it needs a digital copy of Bedrock or a Game Pass Premium or Ultimate subscription, and physical disc owners are excluded. On PlayStation 4 and 5 it needs Bedrock, with a settings tab linking to the store page. On iOS and iPadOS it runs through TestFlight with limited spots that the wiki says free up on the first day of each month. Use the platform stores only, and see How to Update Minecraft on Java and Bedrock for keeping the release current.
How To Get Minecraft Preview
This page rests on the Xbox store listing and the Minecraft Wiki, both read on 10 October 2026. The wiki is community written, and we did not install or play Preview. For the newest releases on each edition, see Latest Minecraft Version for Java and Bedrock.
