Home windows 11’s fashionable context menu is slower than the Home windows 10 model, particularly in case you’ve unknowingly enabled extensions reminiscent of “Edit with Clipchamp,” “Edit with Notepad,” “Ask Copilot,” and related choices. This stuff take just a few seconds to load on low-end PCs and infrequently end in misclicks. Microsoft says it’s conscious of the issue.
Complaints about Home windows 11’s sluggish efficiency aren’t precisely new, however they’ve solely began to get Microsoft’s consideration after outrage on social media. In March 2026, Microsoft confirmed it was engaged on a serious replace to revive Home windows 11, and Satya Nadella additionally promised the corporate would concentrate on fundamentals to win again followers.
And what’s extra elementary than the right-click menu in Home windows 11, proper?
The trendy context menu isn’t precisely horrible, but it surely didn’t remedy the litter drawback launched by older variations of Home windows. Worse, it made the present right-click expertise slower, the place some gadgets load instantly and others take a second or two to point out up.
For instance, I opened a folder with a number of photos and right-clicked on one of many photos with a .jpg extension. Naturally, I used to be anticipating gadgets like Paint, Images, Clipchamp, and others to point out up.
After I right-clicked, the context menu appeared virtually instantly on my high-spec PC, however in case you watch the video intently, you’ll discover that a part of the menu retains loading for a second after it opens.
This stuff are known as “extensions” for the context menu. With Home windows 11, Microsoft began clubbing app extensions collectively to prepare the menu, but it surely seems to have triggered extra hurt than good.
This subject additionally implies that the cursor place can change whereas extension gadgets are nonetheless loading. You probably have a behavior of clicking gadgets rapidly, you would possibly by chance click on the fallacious merchandise as a result of the context menu has already adjusted itself after loading further extension gadgets and rising in measurement.
In a post on X, Microsoft confirmed that these points are attributable to late-loading extensions, and it’s engaged on addressing them.
As well as, Microsoft stated it’ll make the right-click menu load quicker and scale back litter by default, so it doesn’t take up all your display screen area, particularly in case you’re an influence consumer.
Microsoft begins testing a easy context menu in Home windows 11
We’ve already seen some progress in preview builds, the place the right-click menu takes much less area than earlier than.
For instance, Microsoft has created a brand new menu known as “Handle file,” which is a nested menu that may home all file-related operations, reminiscent of copy path, set desktop background, compress to ZIP, and extra. The “Handle file” is a placeholder identify, and it might change when it ships in manufacturing.
In our checks, Home windows Newest noticed that the brand new “Handle file” nested menu can scale back the general display screen area of the right-click menu by 25% or extra, relying on the variety of gadgets your context menu has. It’s an enormous enchancment, but it surely’s nonetheless being examined in preview builds, so we don’t know when it’ll roll out.
Microsoft additionally confirmed that it’s engaged on a “configurable” context menu the place you’ll be able to add or take away gadgets and personalize the menu to your liking. It’s one of the crucial requested options, and till now, you possibly can solely modify your context menu utilizing a third-party app or script, which is often not secure.
It’s fascinating to observe Microsoft combine superior personalization choices that have been beforehand accessible solely by means of third-party apps.
How do you assume Microsoft can enhance the right-click menu in Home windows 11? Let me know within the feedback under.