Windows 11 Right-Click Menu: Keep Only What You Use (New in the November Update)

Right-clicking a file in Windows 11 has meant a long menu that takes a second or two to settle, with familiar commands hidden under "Show more options." Starting with the November 10 update (KB5132061), you can choose what the right-click menu shows.

1. Check for the update first

• Go to Settings → Windows Update → Check for updates, install the November update and restart. It applies to Windows 11 25H2 (build 26200.9974) and 26H2 (build 26300.9974).
• The feature is rolling out gradually. If you've installed the update and don't see it yet, give it a few days.
• Windows 11 24H2 Home and Pro reached end of support in October and won't get this update. You can check your version in Settings → System → About.

2. Open the menu settings

• Right-click any file and choose Customize menu at the bottom of the menu.
• This opens Settings → Personalization → Context menu. If you change nothing, the default menu stays as it is.

3. What you can change

• Turn built-in commands on or off: choose whether commands such as Send to, Create shortcut and Copy as path appear. You can also add commands that weren't there before, such as Print.
• Tidy up app entries: keep only the app extensions you use (from archive tools, cloud apps and so on) in the main menu and move the rest into a submenu, or hide the submenu completely.
• Cut, Copy and Paste as text: instead of the small icon row at the top, show Cut, Copy, Paste, Rename, Delete and Share as regular text items. Handy if the icons were confusing.
• Move Properties to the bottom: put Properties at the bottom of the menu, just like in Windows 10.
• Turn off AI entries you don't need: items such as Ask Copilot, which are on by default, can be switched off with one click.

4. Why the menu is faster

• The old menu loaded every app entry as soon as it opened. App extensions now load only when you open their submenu, so the first menu appears much faster.
• In tests by the Windows news site Windows Latest, the right-click menu for a photo went from 20 items to 8 by default.

5. When you need the old menu

• Some older programs, such as 7-Zip, still appear only in the legacy menu.
• Hold Shift and right-click on the desktop to open the legacy menu directly.
• Or turn on Show more options on the settings page so you can switch to the legacy menu from the new one.

Sources: BleepingComputer – Windows 11 KB5132061 update · Windows Latest – Testing the Windows 11 November update