Docker Desktop release notes February 2026

This post assumes you already use Docker Desktop and ship containerized apps. If you are new to containers, start with Docker's getting started docs and come back.

TL;DR: The February 2026 releases focus on practical reliability and workflow upgrades. Sandboxes got faster and more flexible, Desktop stability improved across platforms, and the interface became more customizable. These are not flashy changes, but they remove friction from daily work.

What changed in late February 2026

Docker Desktop 4.61.0 landed on 2026-02-18 and 4.62.0 followed on 2026-02-23. Both builds ship incremental changes that matter for everyday development. The release notes call out kernel updates, Sandboxes improvements, UI customization, and specific platform fixes. When you are dealing with local stability issues or slow agent workflows, these small changes add up.

Sandboxes quality of life changes

Sandboxes picked up a set of improvements that make agent and test environments less repetitive. Image caching prevents re-downloading the same images for every session. Shell mode lets you start a blank sandbox when you want to wire in a custom agent or run a manual workflow. OpenCode support broadens the set of agents that can run in isolation. The version bump to Sandbox v0.12.0 is the quiet indicator that this feature is being actively hardened.

If you are using Sandboxes already, this is a good time to re-evaluate your baseline workflow. It also pairs well with the AI-centric work described in Docker Desktop AI 2025-2026: Sandboxes, MCP, Debug.

Desktop reliability and performance fixes

The 4.62.0 release fixes an issue where background update checks ignored the "Automatically check for updates" setting. That is the kind of bug that quietly burns CPU and confidence over time. Linux users also got a fix for a networking crash on QEMU 10.2.0 and later, which is the sort of stability issue you only notice when things fail under pressure.

Both 4.61.0 and 4.62.0 advanced the Linux kernel version. These upgrades are not just about freshness. Kernel bumps can solve edge cases in file sharing, networking, and virtualization, which are the parts of Docker Desktop you feel most in daily work.

Developer experience improvements

In 4.61.0 you can customize the left hand navigation to show only the tabs you use. That sounds minor until you live in Desktop all day and want the UI to match your workflow. The same release updated Docker Engine to 29.2.1, which matters if you are validating Engine specific fixes or aligning local behavior with production.

Quick verification after upgrade

After upgrading, confirm your Desktop version and Engine in one pass.

docker version
docker info

If you rely on Sandboxes, start a new sandbox and confirm it pulls from cache rather than re-downloading images. That one check is the fastest way to validate that the Sandboxes updates are actually paying off.

Who should upgrade now

If you run agent workflows or Sandboxes daily, upgrade sooner rather than later. The caching and Shell mode improvements remove repeated setup work. If you have experienced Linux networking issues under QEMU or odd background update behavior, 4.62.0 is a clear fix. If your workflow is stable and you are in a highly regulated environment, you can roll forward on your normal cadence after validating these fixes in a staging workstation.

Closing take

The February 2026 releases are not about headline features. They are about reducing the friction that slows developers down and stabilizing the AI adjacent workflows that now run through Docker Desktop. If you care about local reliability, these updates are worth the upgrade. If you are also tightening base image security, see Docker Hardened Images 2026: Changes and Safe Adoption.

References: Docker Desktop release notes at https://docs.docker.com/desktop/release-notes/.