In the third week in January 2023 I received an email from the Windows Insider Most Valuable Professional (MVP) team, congratulating me on the award.

Email from the Windows MVP team congratulating me on the Windows Insider MVP award for 2023
Email from the Windows MVP team congratulating me on the Windows Insider MVP award for 2023

The award was issued based on my contributions made on the Microsoft Community, for testing Windows Insider updates (submitting feedback and completing challenges) and helping those in the community with Windows related questions.

What is the Windows Insider MVP award

Windows Insider MVP award showing my name and the year (2023)
Windows Insider MVP award

The award recognises those who have made extraordinary contributions to the Windows communities world wide. People who demonstrate their passion and enthusiasm for helping people and shaping Windows are what the Windows Insider MVP team are looking for. These people are seen as community leaders.

MVPs help folks on online communities such as the Microsoft Community, Microsoft Tech Community and any other online community that focuses on Windows. This doesn’t have to be a Microsoft owned community. This can be anything from posting on social media sites to helping people on online forums.

They author blog posts and books on Windows which help people. These can either be written on your own websites or on online communities (if you have permission to do this). These could be on new features that are coming soon, or articles on how to solve commonly asked questions.

MVPs may host in person events, or online events (Such as podcasts), where they can talk about new versions of Windows. Help people by showing them how to use Windows or answering their questions. They may talk about new features that are coming to Windows. Then allow people to speak to them about these new features and what they think of them.

Most importantly, Windows Insider MVPs are active in the Windows Insider program. They will be testing new releases of Windows and submitting feedback to help shape the future of Windows. They submit feedback via the Windows Feedback hub or through the dedicated channels to the Windows Insider team.

For more information on the Windows Insider MVP program, please check out their website here: Windows Insider Most Valuable Professional

My contributions

My contributions for last year was a mixture of Moderating, helping people on the community, authoring articles and testing Windows Insider updates.

I am actively moderating the Microsoft Community (https://answers.microsoft.com) as a Volunteer Moderator (VM). Most of my time is spent making sure the community is a safe and welcoming space for everyone who comes and visits. Making sure questions are in the right place, so the user is able to get the best possible support.

When I wasn’t moderating, I was participating in threads answering questions and helping users with their problems. I am found in the Xbox, Windows, Edge and Office forums mainly. If I wasn’t answering questions, I was writing articles to help people with commonly asked questions or guides on how people can make use of new features available to Windows, Xbox, Office and Edge.

Each week I was testing new updates in the Windows Insider program. My home PC is running the Dev flights (Insider builds), and I am actively looking at new features to test out. When I encountered bugs, I submitted feedback via the Feedback hub.

Throughout last year, and this year, I have been active in my local community. Helping people with questions they have with Windows and other Microsoft products, voluntary. These are through in person events that people can come to to ask me questions about Windows and I will try my best to answer those questions.