- Windows 11 has a new preview (optional) update
- This introduces the ability to fully tailor the right-click (context) menu to your liking, as well as speeding up its performance
- That’s great, but you’re best off steering clear of a preview update and waiting for the full release in under two weeks – but even then, this feature will be on a gradual rollout
Windows 11 now has one of the most-wanted interface capabilities for many people, namely the ability to customize the right-click menu – but it’s not quite fully finalized yet (although that’s imminent).
The menu that pops up when you right-click on a file (or folder) is also known as the ‘context’ menu as it presents a bunch of options that vary contextually based on the type of file clicked – but in Windows 11, it’s currently a sprawling affair.
Those who hate the lengthy right-click menu will now be able to customize it after installing a new Windows 11 update, although this is an optional release, meaning it’s still in preview. This feature will be in next month’s patch, the November update, though, so you haven’t got long to wait for the full release (less than two weeks, in fact).
The customization settings for the right-click menu include the ability to remove Windows commands you’re not fond of – like ‘Send to’ for example – or add abilities that you’d like to have, and also choose the apps you want to appear in the context menu.
It’s a full range of customization and you can also elect to have the top panel of the menu (cut, paste, rename and so forth) directly integrated instead, so these functions appear alongside everything else (in a Windows 10 style – and you can shift the layout around too, moving Properties to the foot of the menu for example).
Microsoft boasts that the new right-click menu is faster, too: “The updated menu opens more quickly, reduces clutter, and gives you more control over the commands and app extensions that appear when you right-click.”
As you may have noticed, all this work has been in testing for a while now.
Analysis: rolling frustrations and a lengthy wait
The immediate response on the likes of Reddit seems positive, and there are Windows 11 users who have taken the plunge with this preview update who are observing that the right-click menu is indeed a lot faster.
One Redditor enthuses: “The new context menu is so good! Way faster, customization is cool.”
Others acknowledge that this is undoubtedly a good move, but don’t understand why it took Microsoft so long to get here: “Not bad imo. Crazy it took them 5 years though.”
While the feedback is generally positive, there are complaints from those who have installed the update but haven’t received the new context menu. This is because the right-click revamp has been implemented via a gradual rollout, so it’s only being drip-fed through to a certain amount of PCs at a time (of those who have installed the optional update). As another Redditor puts it: “Those gradual rollouts though…”
You can force the feature to be deployed to your PC using a Windows configuration utility (ViVeTool), but I wouldn’t recommend that approach. Microsoft tests the waters in a limited way for good reasons, especially with features still in preview, so you’re running a larger than normal risk of some nasty bug ruining your day.
Anyway, you’ve waited five years for this performance and options tuning, as those on Reddit are keen to point out – so what’s another couple of weeks? I’d hold on for the official November update, keeping clear of this preview, but even then, it’ll still be a gradual rollout, and you may need some patience.
Still, the good news is that the context ball is rolling, and it hopefully won’t be too long before the majority of Windows 11 users gain access to this important upgrade for a key piece of the UI.
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Darren Allan