Windows 11 is fixing a big Windows 10 mess — here’s how

Windows 11 is fixing a large Windows ten mess — here's how

(Paradigm credit: Microsoft)

Windows 11 is expected to go on sale this holiday season, and those who upgrade can expect forward to a bevy of improvements to the way Windows works. 1 of the more exciting upgrades is coming to a small Windows tool that's easy to overlook, even though Windows users probably see it at least a dozen times a day: the Window context menu.

If the name doesn't ring a bong, it's because most of us just call information technology the "right-click menu." The Windows context card was designed to requite Windows users quick admission to common commands like cut, copy, paste, and rename, and sometimes information technology nevertheless does — only these days it merely every bit often gives us headaches equally we endeavor to sift through an ever-growing list of commands added past various apps.

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This is a known issue, and this week a new Windows blog post lays out what Microsoft is doing to eliminate it in Windows 11. It's a cursory, bullet-point list from Microsoft'south Xander Fiss outlining what the Windows context menu is meant to exercise (make your life easier), what it's become (a messy, unorganized listing full of cruft), and how it's being streamlined in Windows 11.

Windows 10 context menu — An example of the current Windows ten context menu — how long does it take you to notice the "Rename" control I was searching for? (Epitome credit: Future)

"The menu is exceptionally long," writes Fiss. "It has grown in an unregulated environment for 20 years, since Windows XP, when IContextMenu was introduced" and become an unorganized listing of commands and actions that can't easily be tamed. Currently, the most common solutions to a messy Windows context carte du jour require editing the registry yourself (oft a dicey proposition best left to seasoned users) or downloading third-political party utilities to do it for you.

But Fiss promises relief is coming in Windows xi, which will have a redesigned context menu that should make your life a fiddling easier every fourth dimension you right-click something. For starters, the almost mutual commands — including cut, copy, paste, and delete — will now appear as lilliputian icons along the top of the menu, meaning they'll be correct next to your stylus/finger/mouse pointer (depending on how you're interacting with Windows) instead of scattered throughout the menu.

Windows 11 context menu — (Image credit: Microsoft)

App extensions to the menu (sections of the menu that get added by programs you install) volition at present be grouped together below the basic Windows shell verbs like open up, compress, and properties, which means the Windows eleven correct-click menu should await a lot less messy and easier to navigate over time. If yous install an app with multiple verbs — that is, it offers multiple options when you right-click something — those verbs will now be grouped together in a popular-out bill of fare, which should likewise aid keep the menu clean and easy to parse.

If you lot don't similar the style it looks, don't worry. Microsoft as well lets you access the current Windows 10 context menu by hit Shift+F10 or clicking "Show more options" at the lesser of the Windows xi context menu.

Windows 11 share menu — (Image credit: Microsoft)

There are likewise some notable improvements to the Share dialog: when you right-click something in Windows xi and hitting the Share button (which lives up top alongside common commands like copy and paste) you'll get a revamped Share menu which lets yous control which nearby devices y'all want to share to, and affords you liberty to share to whatever apps, not but Windows Store apps.

All of these small improvements add together up to one big upgrade that should make the experience of using Windows for twenty-four hour period-to-day work smoother and eliminate the scourge of messy, unhelpful context menus.

Alex Wawro is a lifelong tech and games enthusiast with more than a decade of experience covering both for outlets like Game Programmer, Blackness Hat, and PC Earth magazine. He currently serves as a senior editor at Tom's Guide covering all things computing, from laptops and desktops to keyboards and mice.