Windows 11 File Explorer Right-click Menu was changed to include icons

Anonymous
2021-12-06T15:53:47+00:00

Who did this and why do they do it (see picture below)? The File Explorer right-click menu has had the options: Cut, Copy, Paste, Rename, Delete listed (as words) in this menu FOREVER and now some genius decided that after all these years, Windows users are too dumb to read. The words were replaced with icons. THIS IS SO ANNOYING. THE MUSCLE MEMORY IN MY HANDS IS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO RETRAIN AFTER YEARS OF THE MENU BEING THE SAME WAY. Now I have to stop and think about something that I've done instinctively for years. I can get to the ORIGINAL right-click menu by selecting "Show More Options," shown in the photo below, but WHY SHOULD I HAVE TO, THAT'S AN EXTRA STEP? If I am intelligent enough to boot up a computer, then certainly I can read the words: Cut, Copy, Paste, Rename and Delete. I don't need you to create icons to represent those functions. IF IT'S NOT BROKEN THEN DON'T TRY TO FIX IT. STOP DUMBING DOWN THE SOFTWARE AND MAKING THINGS HARDER PLEASE.

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Files, folders, and storage

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-02-17T23:04:05+00:00

    Whooops - my fault. I left the braces (curly brackets) off the key. Works great now. The context menu is indeed quite long but it's all text, no icons, so I am MUCH happier. There's a nice explanation of why they did it, it makes sense, what doesn't make sense is using unlabelled icons. I recognized the trash can as Delete, but not the others. I am 82 years old, eyesight (with glasses) good, but memory getting bad. I do NOT need to learn a new way to do something I've been doing for about 30 years.

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  2. Anonymous
    2024-02-17T22:28:47+00:00

    I tried this and it didn't work. I have Windows 11 Home Edition. Any ideas?

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-02-04T15:26:35+00:00

    Sadly, I was a developer, (now mostly management), just not for Windows apps. IDEs also use a bunch of icons with no text option. Even with a 24" monitor they are not easy to distinguish.

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  4. Anonymous
    2024-01-27T19:57:07+00:00

    I think the "developers" are using 100" TV/Monitors, so the icons probably look reasonable to them... HAH !

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  5. Anonymous
    2024-01-27T15:58:22+00:00

    Tiny, meaningless icons on a small screen with less than perfect eyesight make this much harder than simple text. I work on medical devices and usability studies are required with intended users. I can only assume that Microsoft does not test with older users or simply does not care.

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