Microsoft is embarking on a significant transformation of its File Explorer and context menu, aiming to address long-standing quality concerns and enhance user experience. The juxtaposition of “Windows” and “quality” has often been met with skepticism, a sentiment acknowledged by the company itself this year. Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s CEO, has openly recognized the need to “win back” the loyalty of its user base. For many, File Explorer serves as the face of the Windows operating system, yet it has been plagued by feature bloat, questionable design choices, and an overall sense of instability and sluggish performance.
As Microsoft aptly noted, “What people remember most are the worst moments.” A single instance of freezing while renaming a file or a slow right-click can overshadow a multitude of seamless interactions. This reality underscores the importance of addressing user complaints, which, while often louder than praise, reflect genuine concerns. In response, Microsoft has dedicated recent months to refining File Explorer, tackling the frustrating freezes and workflow interruptions that have hindered usability. However, the context menu has undergone perhaps the most visible transformation in a shorter timeframe.
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Currently available in the Experimental Windows Insider Channel, the updated context menu showcases Microsoft’s commitment to reversing the clutter and sluggishness that has characterized its recent iterations. For those who still rely on their Windows 10 muscle memory, fear not—essential functions like Cut, Copy, Paste, Rename, Delete, and Share can be easily accessed inline. If the Print command is missing, it can be added back with ease. Conversely, options deemed unnecessary, such as Send to or Create shortcut, can be disabled. Our exploration of the new menu on a test PC revealed a streamlined interface that allows users to customize their experience according to their preferences, rather than conforming to the operating system’s defaults. Notably, even the Copilot feature is not prominently displayed unless specifically requested, although our installation did encounter some hiccups regarding Microsoft 365 Copilot and PowerToys iconography—after all, this is the Experimental Channel.
Perhaps the most telling aspect of Microsoft’s recent changes is its candid acknowledgment that some features may have been better left untouched. The company has reintroduced the movable Taskbar, a feature previously abandoned in Windows 11, into the Release Preview. For users who preferred the familiar context menu style of Windows 10, Microsoft has added options to restore that experience. It seems that somewhere in the depths of Redmond, an engineer has revisited the age-old adage: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” or at the very least, reconsidered the mantra of “Or keep fixing it until it’s broke.”
