Share this article
Dynamics 365 Business Central major version 26 (also known as 2025 release wave 1) is generally available.
Scope of major version 26
Information about the update and the scope of changes included in major version 26 can be found in the documentation: Update 26.0 for Business Central 2025 release wave 1 ↗.
What’s new and planned for Business Central 25
The planned changes that have been included in the 2025 release wave 1 for major version BC 26 and later minor versions is described in a separate news: What’s new and planned for Dynamics 365 Business Central 26 (2025 release wave 1).
Business Central online
New environments for BC online will now automatically launch on version 26. Existing BC online environments will receive an upgrade to major version 26 in accordance with the current and updated in March 2025 major version and minor version update policy for BC online environments ↗. Notification recipients set in the Business Central admin center under the Notification Recipients section will receive an e-mail informing them when the upgrade will be available for their environment, along with a specified upgrade window (which can be up to 5 months).
Business Central on-premises
For on-premises environments, major version 26 is now available for download from the documentation page about the update as a DVD image for all localization versions released by Microsoft: Update 26.0 for Business Central 2025 release wave 1 ¶ On-premises download packages ↗.
Artifacts for BC Docker containers
Related posts
Major version 26 artifacts for BC Docker containers of the Sandbox and OnPrem types have been published and are available by selecting the latest version using the -select Latest parameter in the Get-BcArtifactUrl command of the BcContainerHelper module.
Business Central Launch Event
As is traditional for a new BC release, Microsoft organized an online event called the Business Central Launch Event (BCLE). The opening session of the event was broadcast live from the stage in front of the Microsoft team responsible for preparing the release. A nice change from the opening sessions recorded in the studio. Jannik Bausager and Dmitry Chadayev from Microsoft presented the key new features and changes in the new release.
The event took place online, on the release day, which was April 1, 2025 (starting with a live opening session at 4:00 PM CEST). Registration for the event was free and could be done at: aka.ms/BCLE ↗. Currently, the address redirects to a video list showcasing what’s new in the latest release. All sessions presenting new features are also available directly on the YouTube channel: aka.ms/BCYouTube ↗.
Take BC 26 for a spin
You can now try, check, and test the new version of Business Central on your own! I wrote about different ways to create environments, e.g. for your own testing purposes, in the article Ways to create a BC test environment.
Thanks! 🙌
