Recently, Microsoft announced significant improvements to the Windows 11 right-click menu in the latest Windows Insider Preview Build 26340.9212, including faster menu pop-up speeds and the addition of customization features.
Since its release, changes to the right-click menu in Windows 11 have been one of the most criticized features. Commands like Cut, Copy, Paste, Rename, Delete, and Share, which were displayed in a vertical list in Windows 10, were changed to a horizontal row of icons, and the Properties option is no longer fixed at the bottom of the menu. Many users still haven't adapted to this change.
Microsoft acknowledged in its blog that it received feedback and has finally provided a solution: users can revert these primary commands to a vertical list display, and the Properties option can be moved back to the very bottom of the menu.
In addition to layout adjustments, Microsoft is also addressing the responsiveness of the right-click menu. The company stated that the team "recognizes the need to significantly reduce the time it takes for the menu to fully load after a right-click."
Meanwhile, Microsoft has added a custom menu entry at the bottom of the context menu. Clicking it takes you to the settings page, where users can adjust menu configurations according to their usage habits and years of accumulated muscle memory.
File Explorer has also received performance optimizations. Microsoft analyzed issues such as stuttering, freezing, and latency reported by users, eliminating dozens of potential causes. Stuttering is now significantly reduced when browsing, renaming files, navigating, or selecting multiple files.
Daily interaction details have also been improved: file renaming is no longer interrupted by background sync processes, the address bar supports more input formats, home folders support middle-click to open in a new tab, and file sizes automatically display in appropriate units (KB/MB/GB) instead of uniformly using KB.
These improvements are currently being tested with Windows Insider Dev Channel users and will later be rolled out to the stable version of Windows 11.