Microsoft has released KB5127936, an optional Windows 11 preview that lets people customise the File Explorer right-click menu and includes several other interface changes. The update is for versions 25H2 and 26H2, but its features are rolling out gradually, so installing it may not make everything appear straight away.
Watch Desk analysis
What happened
The redesigned menu adds a Customize option. Users can turn built-in commands such as Send to on or off, add commands such as Print, move app extensions into a submenu or hide them, and choose to display Cut, Copy and Paste as text rather than icons. Properties can be moved to the bottom of the menu. That is a welcome bit of control over a corner of Windows that has collected app clutter with the enthusiasm of a kitchen drawer.
KB5127936 also brings a consistent layout for File Explorer search results, support for the ~ character in the address bar and a dark-mode option in Folder Options. The update is optional. Home users can enable “Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available”, then look under Settings, Windows Update, Advanced options and Optional updates for KB5127936. The changes still arrive in phases.
Why it matters
The context menu is one of those small, frequent interactions that can make a computer feel either tidy or faintly argumentative. Being able to remove unwanted entries, reposition useful ones and restore text commands gives users practical control, rather than another setting that merely changes the wallpaper of the problem.
There is one reported snag worth knowing about: Microsoft lists possible audio problems with USB Audio Class 1.0 devices after the 8 September security update, including no sound or unresponsive volume controls, and says no fix has been published yet.
Our read
This is a useful quality-of-life update, not a reason to drop everything and install a preview. If the right-click menu has become a jumble, the new controls are the main attraction. Otherwise, the gradual rollout makes patience a perfectly respectable setting.
What to watch
- When the customised menu reaches more devices.
- Whether Microsoft publishes a fix for the USB audio issue.
- Whether the new menu’s speed and clutter improvements hold up in everyday use.
Discussion spark: Would you tidy the right-click menu by hiding app entries, or do you prefer having every command available even if the menu gets crowded?
Sources and evidence
- Source update (29 October 2026, 08:38 UTC)
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