How to download Minecraft Bedrock 1.21.40.25 beta and preview

Minecraft Preview 1.21.40.25 debuted on October 3, 2024, and made an important bug fix on Android/iOS devices to prevent transparent blocks from being rendered with black textures instead of their ordinary transparent appearance. This preview also tweaked some technical components, so you're probably looking to download the preview to enjoy the latest changes.

Depending on the platform you're enjoying the base game on, downloading Minecraft Preview 1.21.40.25 may require different steps. Additionally, it's important to note that these previews are currently only available on Xbox One and Series X|S consoles, PlayStation 4 and 5 consoles, Windows 10/11 PCs, and Android/iOS mobile devices as far as Bedrock Edition is concerned.

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How to download Minecraft Bedrock Preview 1.21.40.25 on compatible platforms

Xbox One and Series X|S

Downloading Minecraft previews for Xbox consoles can be accomplished with a few button presses (Image via Mojang)

Downloading previews on Xbox One and Series X|S is carried out pretty directly. As long as you have purchased the base game or have access to an active Xbox Game Pass subscription, you can follow these steps to download Preview 1.21.40.25:

1. Open either the store or the Xbox Game Pass library.
2. Search for "Minecraft Preview" and open the resulting page.
3. Select the Install button.

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PlayStation 4 and 5

Minecraft previews on PlayStation are handled differently from Xbox to a degree (Image via Mojang)

As a more recent arrival, Minecraft previews for PlayStation 4 and 5 are handled a little differently from Xbox, but the process is still remarkably easy if you have the base game installed. If you have the base game at the ready, you can install PlayStation previews with these steps:

1. Open the base game and open your settings from the main menu.
2. On the sidebar to the left, scroll down and select Preview.
3. Choose either "Get PlayStation 4 Preview" or "Get PlayStation 5 Preview".
4. Select Download.

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Windows 10/11 PCs

Previews on Windows 10/11 are handled quite differently from consoles (Image via Microsoft)

Updating previews on Windows 10/11 PCs is carried out a bit differently depending on whether you have a preview installed already or not. If you do, you can update it with the Microsoft Store, but if you don't, you can install Preview 1.21.40.25 directly with the game's official launcher. Both methods can be found below:

1. If you don't have a prior preview installed, open your Minecraft Launcher client and select Bedrock Edition from the game list, then click the button that reads "Latest Release" and select "Latest Preview" instead, then hit the green Install button.
2. If you've already installed a previous preview, open the Microsoft Store application, navigate to your library, then click the games button and click the update button next to the listing for Minecraft Preview. If it isn't listed, try clicking the "Get Updates" button to fetch the update's data from Microsoft's servers.

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Android/iOS Devices

The methods for downloading previews on Android/iOS depend on the operating system (Image via Apple)

If you're playing Minecraft on Android/iOS, you can use your respective app store to access new previews, including the Google Play Store on Android and TestFlight via the Apple App Store. Both methods will be described using the steps below:

1. On Android, open the Google Play Store and then the store page for the base game. Scroll down and find the section labeled "Join the Beta" and tap the accompanying text link to switch your base game app with one that will run the preview instead.
2. On iOS, download the TestFlight app on the App Store and then head to the TestFlight page for the preview and sign up using your Apple account info. You'll receive an email that you should open by selecting "View in TestFlight", tapping Accept if you're a new tester, tapping Install, and then tapping either Update or Open if you're a returning tester.

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That's all it takes! Once Preview 1.21.40.25 is installed, it should automatically update on most platforms save for Windows PCs, which will still depend upon the Microsoft Store application to update.