Katarzyna Petru
Microsoft has been pushing new artificial intelligence features in Windows 11 for months, but this time it had to relent. After a wave of criticism from users, the system has received the option to completely disable AI Actions – a tool that made its way into the context menu in May 2025 and… quickly began to irritate there.
AI Actions is leaving the menu. Finally, it can be hidden
From version Windows 11 build 26220.7344, every user can disable AI Actions with a single click. Microsoft has finally met the requests of the community, which has long complained that the feature is unnecessary, unattractive, and often displays empty fields in an already overloaded context menu. To disable it, simply go to:
Settings → Apps → Actions
Here you can uncheck all integrations – including for Photos, Paint, or Teams.
From this moment, AI Actions becomes fully optional. If you want – you keep it. If you don’t want – it disappears as if it was never there.
What exactly did AI Actions do?
It was a set of quick AI-based tools, such as:
image search in Bing,
background blur in the Photos app,
object removal from a photo,
background removal in Paint.
In theory: convenient. In practice: many people did not want these options in view, especially when they do not use Microsoft's services on a daily basis.
Context menu will see more tidying up
Disabling AI Actions is not the only change. Microsoft has also started cleaning up other parts of the context menu:
a new submenu for files has been added, combining functions such as Compress to… and Copy as path,
all options related to OneDrive have been grouped into one category,
the aim of these changes is to simplify the interface and get rid of the “cluttered” layout, which has long been one of the main criticisms of Windows 11.
It’s a step in the right direction – users have more control, and the menu starts to look less like a noticeboard and more like a tool.
Unfortunately: Windows 11 is still drowning in errors
Although Microsoft is improving interface elements, the biggest problem remains unchanged. Windows 11 still experiences serious crashes, and subsequent updates often generate further errors. The most annoying issues concern:
File Explorer,
Start menu,
XAML-based applications – precisely those that are crucial for everyday use of the system.
Microsoft claims that the errors mainly affect corporate environments and to a limited extent. However, user reports from various regions indicate that the problems are not insignificant at all.
Summary: a small victory, but the road ahead is long
The ability to disable AI Actions is a good and long-awaited change. Users are finally regaining control over what they see in the context menu. Microsoft is starting to listen to community feedback — and that's encouraging. At the same time, it's hard not to notice that Windows 11 continues to struggle with fundamental bugs that the giant has been unable to fix for many months. As long as these issues remain, cosmetic fixes will be nothing more than a stopgap.
Source: ithardware
