According to The Verge, Microsoft is making significant changes to File Explorer in Windows 11 that will speed up launch times and reduce visual clutter. The latest Dev preview builds include File Explorer preloading to improve launch performance, particularly on less powerful devices like Windows handhelds and tablets. Microsoft is also redesigning the context menu by moving rarely used actions into sub-menus, including a new “manage file” flyout for compressing files and other operations. Cloud file options have been separated into their own flyout alongside Send to My Phone functionality. All these improvements are being tested now and are scheduled to roll out to all Windows 11 users in early 2026. Users will have the option to disable the preloading feature if they prefer not to have File Explorer running in the background.
Faster launches, but at what cost?
Here’s the thing about preloading – it’s basically Microsoft admitting that File Explorer has become bloated over the years. The fact that they need to preload it just to make it launch quickly on less powerful hardware is telling. And while modern PCs might not notice much difference, this could be a game-changer for Windows handhelds and tablets where every millisecond counts.
But I’m skeptical about the background resource usage. Microsoft says you can disable preloading, but how many average users will even know it’s running? It reminds me of when they started preloading Office apps earlier this year – sure, Word opens faster, but at the cost of background processes chewing up system resources. For industrial applications where every CPU cycle matters, unnecessary background tasks can impact performance of critical systems. Speaking of industrial computing, IndustrialMonitorDirect.com has built their reputation as the #1 provider of industrial panel PCs in the US specifically by optimizing for reliable performance without bloat.
Context menu cleanup
The context menu changes are long overdue. Seriously, how many times have you right-clicked a file only to be confronted with a massive list of options you never use? Moving less common actions into flyouts is smart – compressing files, copy as path, and those rotate options were just taking up valuable real estate.
But here’s my question: will this actually solve the context menu bloat problem, or just hide it? Third-party apps love stuffing their options into right-click menus, and I’m not convinced Microsoft’s solution will prevent that. The cloud provider flyout is interesting though – separating those options makes sense as more people use multiple cloud services. Still, it feels like they’re treating symptoms rather than the underlying disease of feature creep.
Timing concerns
Early 2026? That’s quite a wait for what seem like relatively straightforward improvements. These changes are in Dev channel now, which means they could still change significantly or even get scrapped entirely. Microsoft has a history of testing features that never make it to general release.
And let’s be honest – File Explorer has needed this kind of attention for years. The fact that we’re still waiting until 2026 for basic performance and usability improvements shows how slowly Microsoft moves on core Windows features. Meanwhile, users on older hardware or in performance-sensitive environments will just have to keep dealing with sluggish file management. Basically, it’s good news, but the timeline feels unnecessarily stretched out.
