Microsoft Is Testing a Faster Windows 11 Right-Click Context Menu You Can Actually Control
Microsoft is testing a redesigned Windows 11 File Explorer right-click context menu that opens faster, cuts down clutter, and gives you control over which commands show up.
The small menu you probably use without thinking is becoming a test case for something Windows 11 has needed for years: less friction, more choice, and fewer tiny delays baked into everyday work.
➜ The real story: Windows 11 doesn’t need another giant feature parade nearly as much as it needs hundreds of practical fixes like this one.
The redesigned menu is rolling out first through the Experimental Windows Insider channel, so this isn’t a finished feature for every PC yet. But the direction is refreshingly clear: Microsoft wants right-clicking to feel fast again without forcing everyone into the same layout.
Microsoft Windows 11 Right-Click Context Menu Is Getting Faster
Microsoft says File Explorer has accumulated enough third-party extensions and menu items to make right-clicking feel cluttered and sluggish.
The new approach trims the default menu while keeping more options available through settings, which should reduce the amount of work Windows has to do every time the menu opens.
It’s a tiny interaction, but it happens constantly, and slow tiny interactions have a special talent for making an expensive computer feel weirdly old.
Microsoft has also been working on File Explorer freezes, delays, navigation behavior, and other quality-of-life issues around the same time.
Windows 11 File Explorer Lets You Customize Commands and Bring Back Print
The new “Customize menu” control opens a dedicated Settings page where you can choose which built-in commands appear and how they’re arranged.
That includes bringing “Print” back into the Windows 11 context menu, controlling app extensions, and deciding whether common actions like Cut, Copy, Paste, Rename, Delete, and Share appear as text instead of icons.
People who still have Windows 10 muscle memory can also move Properties back toward the bottom.
This is the kind of customization that makes Windows feel more personal without turning setup into a weekend project.
Microsoft Is Focusing on the Boring Windows 11 Fixes That Actually Matter
The context-menu work fits a broader push to make File Explorer calmer, faster, and more predictable.
Microsoft says file renaming should be less likely to get interrupted by background syncing, Home can remember expanded sections, and file sizes are being shown in more useful units.
That matters alongside bigger Windows changes, including Microsoft’s recent Windows security updates and the company’s iPhone and Windows copy-and-paste plans.
The optimistic version is simple: Windows 11 may be getting better by fixing the stuff you touch all day instead of constantly inventing new stuff to touch.
FAQs
What Changed in the Windows 11 Right-Click Context Menu?
Microsoft is testing a faster File Explorer context menu with less top-level clutter, customizable built-in commands, app-extension controls, and options for arranging common actions.
Can You Add Print to the Right-Click Menu in Windows 11?
Yes, in the new experimental design. The Customize menu settings can enable Print along with other built-in Windows commands.
When Will the New Windows 11 File Explorer Context Menu Be Released?
Microsoft is currently testing it with Windows Insiders in the Experimental channel. A general Windows 11 release date hasn’t been announced.
