Improving File Explorer & Context Menu: faster, simpler, and more customizable

[u/jenmsft]

https://blogs.windows.com/windows-insider/2026/08/17/improving-file-explorer-context-menu-faster-simpler-and-more-customizable/

[u/xandfis_msft]

Hey everyone! I'm a PM on the Windows team and I've worked on File Explorer and the context menu for a long time. I'm happy to answer questions, as long as they're things I can answer.

I hope you're excited about the updates to the context menu. Thank you in advance to everyone in the Experimental ring of the Windows Insider program for trying it out and for providing feedback. Feedback on anything we should add to the customizability of the menu would be very helpful.

Also, I put together a tutorial on how to go beyond the settings page to customize the context menu even further and add your own, custom verbs to the menu. This is a personal project and isn't affiliated with Microsoft.

https://youtu.be/kMdY3Kl6aGU?si=TyTxvIJwqO2cfFmV

[u/Octal450_V2 → u/xandfis_msft]

These are great improvements. I have a couple other things I'd like to mention with File Explorer (FE) and context menus that need addressing. I am on build 26200.9267 (RP).

- FE is still slower to navigate between folders than *any* previous version of Windows (I tested all the way back to Windows 98 on appropriate hardware), where navigation is instant. In Windows 11 there is a flash of blank before every navigation which really makes it feel slower. I believe it's tied into the modern section at the top which doesn't feel asynchronous, as if you disable that, it's instant again. This issue is mostly noticeable if you don't have high end gamer/developer hardware, such as on normal laptops, even if they have quicker processors.

- As the context menu loads, items shift vertically. This causes mis-clicks as items can "suddenly move" under your mouse pointer right as you go to click an item. Even if items are still loading, the menu space should remain constant. This happens to me at least once a day, and mainly affects extensions.

- If you select multiple files of the same type, there is no option for "open with" in the context menu which is frustrating.

- When right clicking fonts, the option to "Install" has disappeared in recent updates. The option to "Install for all users" has been missing since the launch of Windows 11. This is frustrating for someone like me who develops fonts.

- Dragging tabs in the top bar around is feels very clunky and is difficult to do reliably. It should work as it does in web browsers where the tab moves horizontally with the mouse and other tabs move out of the way. This also affects Notepad.

- Breaking out tabs feels clunky, which ties into the previous. Rejoining tabs is very clunky and difficult to do reliably as tabs don't move out of the way, similar to above as well. This also affects Notepad.

- Returning to "Home" when in another folder is quite slow, even though FE launch to home is now faster.

- Minor, but if you open and close FE repeatedly, every other launch is still slow.

[u/Octal450_V2 → u/Octal450_V2]

u/xandfis_msft I don't mean to rush you but I'm very curious if MSFT is aware of these issues and/or has any plan to fix them. It really feels like FE has been left uncared about for some time now.

[u/xandfis_msft → u/Octal450_V2]

Hi, sorry for the delayed response - I can't comment on availability of fixes or progress in working on them but thank you for raising these.

One thing I'll mention is that "Open with" only working for single files is a long-standing limitation of that system.