Katarzyna Petru
Microsoft has been pushing for more artificial intelligence features in Windows 11 for months, but this time it had to back down. After a wave of criticism from users, the system received the option to completely disable AI Actions – a tool that was added to the context menu in May 2025 and… quickly began to irritate users there.
AI Actions is leaving the menu. Finally, it can be hidden
Starting from Windows 11 build 26220.7344, every user can disable AI Actions with one click. Microsoft has finally fulfilled the requests of the community, which has long complained that the feature is unnecessary, unsightly, 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 now on, AI Actions becomes fully optional. If you want it – you keep it. If you don’t want it – it disappears as if it never existed.
What exactly did AI Actions do?
It was a set of quick tools based on AI, 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 didn't want these options in view, especially if they don't use Microsoft services on a daily basis.
The context menu will see more organization
Disabling AI Actions is not the only change. Microsoft has also started cleaning up other parts of the context menu:
A new submenu has been added for files, combining features such as Compress to... and Copy as path,
All options related to OneDrive have been grouped into one category,
The aim of the changes is to simplify the interface and get rid of the "cluttered" look that has long been one of the main complaints about Windows 11.
This is a step in the right direction – users have more control, and the menu starts to look less like a bulletin board 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 new errors. The most troublesome issues concern:
File Explorer,
Start menu,
XAML-based applications – which are precisely those that are crucial for daily 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 at all so marginal.
Summary: a small victory, but the road 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 merely a stopgap measure.
Source: ithardware
