Office files will become more accessible from File Explorer and Start menu

Reading time icon 2 min. read


Readers help support Windows Report. When you make a purchase using links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Tooltip Icon

Read the affiliate disclosure page to find out how can you help Windows Report effortlessly and without spending any money. Read more

Key notes

  • We all expect a lot from Microsoft's new operating system this year.
  • Notable changes are coming for most of the OS's major elements.
  • Office files will be accessible from the Start menu and File Explorer.
  • Microsoft is also looking to fine-tune the File Explorer experience
start office

Some three years ago, the Redmond tech company made a few changes to the File Explorer’s search box and allowed users to search their OneDrive cloud storage and local files at the same time.

Also, among other things, Microsoft updated the recent files section in Explorer and added support for Office.com entries as well.

However, the Explorer started becoming slower, with the search box becoming unresponsive when users try to search their local files.

But rest assured, because a new change included in early preview builds will give users the ability to turn off Office.com integration in File Explorer.

And if you were wondering about 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 the Quick Access view.

Microsoft is correcting past errors

It’s worth knowing that when we turn off the Office.com integration, we actually also block File Explorer from making web requests to retrieve recent cloud file data.

Needless to say that this could reduce background data and resources usage, and improve the overall experience. And, this change will also apply to Start Menu’s recommendations section.

Thus, if you feel the need to deactivate this feature, you will no longer see Office documents.

On the new operating system, Windows 11, Microsoft changed the way the context menu works by prioritizing the most commonly-used options.

Another new addition coming to the File Explorer is a new keyboard shortcut that will allow users to quickly copy the path of files or folders, instead of using the traditional way.

It would be nice to see the mother company take some time to fine-tune all these little annoying details and bugs that still sort of ruin user experience, making many want to switch back to Windows 10.

Hopefully, 2022 will be Windows 11’s best year, and we will see a lot more of the old functionalities make an appearance here as well.

After using Windows 11, do you have any other suggestions for the Start menu and File Explorer? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.

More about the topics: Windows 11 Software & Apps