Windows 11's Explorer and Start menu will finally let you take control of Office files

Back in 2019, Microsoft made changes to the search box in Windows File Explorer and began allowing users to search their OneDrive cloud storage and local files simultaneously. Microsoft has also updated the Recent Files section in Explorer and added support for Office.com entries.

While adding these features, Microsoft made Explorer slow down and the search box in particular became unresponsive when users tried to search their local files. However, it seems Microsoft is planning to give users more control over their results in File Explorer's Quick Access View.

A new change included in early preview builds will allow users to turn off Office.com integration in File Explorer. According to a new entry in Group Policy Editor, you can disable files from Office.com in the operating system and File Explorer will stop including cloud files in Quick Access View.

Additionally, when you turn off Office.com integration, you prevent File Explorer from making web requests to Microsoft's service to retrieve recent cloud file data. This reduces background data and resource usage and improves your overall experience using Windows.

Interestingly, this change also applies to the Recommendations section of the Start menu. When you disable this feature, the Start menu will stop fetching Office documents.

It’s worth noting that Office integration includes personal and Microsoft 365 accounts, so this change will benefit all users.

Upcoming changes to File Explorer in Windows 11

As we pointed out in a previous report, File Explorer is slowing down in Windows 11. The context menu that appears when you right-click a file or folder is slower and slower than expected.

In Windows 11, Microsoft is changing the way context menus work by prioritizing the most commonly used options. Slow performance or slow animations are one of the annoying problems of File Explorer.

In some cases, users will observe a 1/2 second delay as the menu attempts to resize when you click anywhere in the Explorer window.

In addition to the bug fixes, Microsoft has also introduced a new keyboard shortcut that allows users to quickly copy the path of a file or folder. Now, users need to right-click on an item and select "Copy as Path" to copy its location.

The above is the detailed content of Windows 11's Explorer and Start menu will finally let you take control of Office files. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!