Microsoft has begun testing significant enhancements to the Windows File Explorer and its associated context menu within Windows 11 preview builds. These updates, which started rolling out to Insiders this week, are primarily focused on improving speed, performance, and reliability, while also addressing user-reported issues.
The File Explorer team detailed these changes in a blog post on Monday, emphasizing a commitment to refining the user experience. Specific improvements include preventing file renames from being interrupted by background synchronization processes and ensuring that case-only filename changes appear immediately. These adjustments are part of an ongoing effort to make everyday tasks feel more natural and predictable.
A key component of this update is a redesigned context menu, which aims to be faster, less cluttered, and more customizable. Microsoft has introduced a "Customize menu" shortcut at the bottom of the right-click menu, leading to a new Settings page where users can tailor the menu to their preferences. This new design seeks to reduce top-level clutter while keeping commonly used actions easily accessible.
These recent changes build upon previous efforts to enhance File Explorer. In April, Microsoft rolled out another set of improvements, and in November, the company began testing an optional feature designed to preload File Explorer in the background to reduce launch times. Users could disable this preloading by unchecking "Enable window preloading for faster launch times" in File Explorer's Folder Options under the View tab.
The File Explorer performance initiatives parallel the May 2025 rollout of Startup Boost, an optional feature for Microsoft Office applications. Startup Boost uses a Windows scheduled task during system logon to accelerate the launch of Office apps.
In a separate but related announcement on Monday, Microsoft also confirmed the removal of the Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line (WMIC) tool. WMIC, known as a "living-off-the-land binary" (LOLBIN), has been frequently exploited by cybercriminals. Its removal will begin with Windows 11 versions 24H2 and 25H2, as well as the beta builds released this week.
