Context menus – icons

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My Win10 context menus seem to have suddenly sprouted a whole family of icons along the left side – modern looking, I suppose, fancy, but useless.   I presume this is part of some new look that MS is pushing out, or I have accidently activate.

I done want nor need them.  Is there some way I can make them go away?

I had a look in WinAero Tweaker but it’s not obviously there.

Thanks  Richard

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Fred

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A screenshot would help.

Windows 11 Pro version 22H2 build 22621.1778 + Microsoft 365 + Edge

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Here’s a screen shot of this issue…

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It’s not a Microsoft thing.

Have you installed a third-party start menu or file manager?

You mentioned W10 icons but posted this under Windows 11.

Windows 11 Pro version 22H2 build 22621.1778 + Microsoft 365 + Edge

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Ah yes.  I use Open-Shell Menu 4.4.170.   However I had carefully looked through all of the (many) options in that program and none seem to apply to this issue.  And, I’ve been using this for some time without seeing this so I had considered other things more likely responsible.

? Displayfusion (for dual monitor use).

I don’t see anything else likely in my startup system but will look further.

The Win 11 forum is an error.   I find some of the things confusing in the forums.  I think I tried to put it in “Windows in general” or something like that – while I use Win10 it seems like it is not necessarily specifically a Win10 issue.

Richard

[Moderator Edit] moved to Questions: Win10 for you.

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Removing Open Shell menu makes no difference here.

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I am using Open Shell 4.4.170 on Win10 Pro 21H2 19044.1889 (Aug updates),
This is my context menu for a shortcut to “This PC” on the desktop equivalent to your screenshot.
In the search box, type winver and hit Enter. What is your version? Your screenshot looks strangely like Win11 icons.

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Well:

I removed OpenShell and there was no change to the menus.  I then removed DisplayFusion and after a couple of reboots the menus had reverted to the default simple icons.

However the DisplayFusion support people denied that their program does anything to icons, which makes sense, so I doubt that removing it was the responsible action.  I’ve reinstalled it and the icons have not changed.

So while the issue is resolved I don’t have any definative solution.

I had installed Win11 on the laptop – rather briefly, I didn’t like it – and then did a fresh reinstall of Win10.  I rather guess, without knowing, that something from the Win11 install was still there, and the culprit of my complaint.  This despite me doing a whole fresh install of Win10.  And that doesn’t really make sense to me but there it is – several have stated that the image I posted looks rather like Win11.  And why it changed is a mystery.

Not an important problem, but a mystery.  Oh well.  Thanks for the help others have offered.

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There are quite a few knowledgeable people here on AskWoody who love a good mystery.  I’ve had many mysteries solved by them, and I’m very thankful.  Hang in there, you may yet get an answer to this.

Experience is that marvelous thing that enables you recognize a mistake as soon as you make it again.

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When you installed Win11, were OpenShell and DisplayFusion “carried over” from Win10?

Then, when you did your “fresh reinstall of Win10“, was it set to Keep personal files and apps (which would have carried OpenSHell and DisplayFusion back over to Win10 with the “settings” they’d used under Win11)?

If so, one or the other may have “cached” the Win11 context menu icons and your removing them cleared that cache and restored the standard Win10 context menu.

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I’m pretty sure that my reinstall was intended to be a fresh install to get rid of some other issues I was irritated by  (but at my age, with my memory, I won’t swear to that over a glass of Scotch).  However, indeed, I did not wipe the hard drive and start that completely fresh, so I imagine that there could have been some vestiges in files that eventually showed up, as you suggest.

Thanks Richard

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