The update also enhances address bar reliability and disk image mounting, addressing key user pain points beyond just speed. Users can install this performance boost now or wait for the mandatory July patch rollout. A few days ago, we reported that Microsoft's optional update KB5095093 brought some welcome changes, including a bug fix for slow shutdowns as well as improvements to Bluetooth reliability . Now it's also confirmed that File Explorer has been sped up with this update, which should please many users. This speed improvement isn't done via preloading (which would run the program automatically in the background, allowing it to "launch" faster when you want to open it).

PCWorld reports that Microsoft is restoring the missing'Refresh' and'Print' options to Windows 11 File Explorer's right-click context menu after user complaints. These essential features are currently being tested in Windows 11 preview Build 26300.8376

PCWorld reports that Microsoft is overhauling Windows 11 with significant performance improvements targeting File Explorer, Start menu, and system responsiveness through better CPU scheduling and memory management. The updates separate Widgets from the Discover feed and adopt a "calm" approach with fewer notifications, though concerns arise about AI-summarized content potentially harming creators. These changes aim to make Windows 11 "feel faster" and more competitive with macOS, rolling out through the Windows Insider program. This is the new, more productive Windows 11. On Friday, Microsoft said that it has begun making improvements to File Explorer, speeding up Windows under the hood, and minimizing distractions from the Windows widgets, all in the name of getting more done. Microsoft's moves underscore what it began talking about in March: emphasizing a cleaner, more efficient Windows while scaling back on Copilot and moving toward adding features that customers have demanded, such as a configurable taskbar .

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Don't want AI Actions in File Explorer? Microsoft seems to have heard the criticism against AI Actions in File Explorer and will let users turn them off if desired. Across the recent fall months, Microsoft added a number of AI features to Windows File Explorer, which not all users appreciated. We're talking features like AI-powered file search, various AI Actions in the Context Menu, and even AI integrations with third-party apps .

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Microsoft brings Windows' 'AI actions' to third-party apps Zoom, Filmora, and Manus will be supported by right-clicking File Explorer within Windows 11. Microsoft has become somewhat infamous for its enormous right-click menu in Windows' File Explorer. But the company is adding even more options -- and, interestingly, to apps and services that it doesn't even own. Depending on whether or not you own a Copilot+ PC, Microsoft has added "AI actions" to File Explorer like Background Removal and Object Erase.

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Windows 11 preview update KB5065789 brings AI actions to File Explorer, new keyboard shortcuts, bug fixes, and more. Yesterday, Microsoft released optional update KB5065789 for Windows 11 24H2 as well as optional update KB5065790 for Windows 11 23H2. Right-clicking on image files will now present some AI actions, including Visual Search (search the web using an image), Blur Background (performed via Photos app), Erase Objects (also via Photos app), and Remove Background (via Paint). As of now, these actions are only available for JPG, JPEG, and PNG files.

Microsoft has begun testing a new power-saving technology within Windows, as well as assigning AI actions to a right-click menu within File Explorer. Microsoft is also tweaking the way in which widgets are laid out, letting Copilot handle the decisions itself. Microsoft published the changes as part of the Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.4151 By testing these features, Microsoft doesn't necessarily have to commit to eventually rolling them out, although many appear to be under consideration for a more general release. Under the hood, Microsoft said that it's testing out what it calls User Interaction-Aware CPU Power Management, "an OS-level enhancement that helps reduce power consumption and extend your battery life."

Microsoft is adding ways to make the Windows Photos app much more powerful, combining elements of the elegant Designer app and making Photos more of a centerpiece for visual editing. Microsoft is taking optical-character recognition capabilities that it developed several years ago and adding them to Photos, while pulling in design elements from Microsoft Designer, too. Finally, the company is beefing up File Explorer a bit as well, giving it a more robust visual search capability. Unfortunately, it's also adding a Copilot button as well, which for now doesn't really do much. Microsoft's Windows Photos app languished for years, but it started enjoying a renaissance about two years ago with new AI-powered editing features.

Based on a number of new features being rolled up within new "Release Preview" updates for Windows 11, Microsoft appears to be readying a push for AI-powered enhancements in the coming weeks. Although Microsoft typically reserves major feature releases for the fall, April 2025 is a key month for the software giant because it marks the 50th anniversary of the company's founding. With two preview releases of Windows 11, Microsoft has tipped off what features your PC will be receiving soon--most likely in April. If you do, note that Microsoft isn't releasing all of these features in one fell swoop. Some of them will be released "normally" while others are rolled out in a "gradual" cadence.

Microsoft may have just shipped the Windows 11 2024 Update (24H2), but the company is already disclosing its plans for next-gen Windows apps -- and there's some very interesting AI-powered features due by the holidays. Microsoft disclosed that it is working on several AI additions to Windows and Windows apps: improved Windows search using natural descriptive language, super resolution in Photos, generative fill and erase in Paint, as well as the debut of Recall. All (save Recall) will appear in October as part of the Windows Insider program, with an expected launch in November. All of these features will depend on the NPU inside of Copilot PCs, which will now include PCs that feature Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processors as well as AMD's Ryzen AI 300 and Intel's Lunar Lake. Microsoft also plans several more Copilot features that will run in the cloud, which will include Copilot Voice and Copilot Vision, similar to the innovations used in competing AI services.