Your Windows 11 complaints have solutions – Microsoft just doesn’t want you to know

Everyone likes to complain about Windows 11, and there is no shortage of ways to try to resolve its many problems. There are a wide range of third-party applications that attempt to unblock Windows, replacements for File Explorer and Windows Search, and much more.

But for many problems in Microsoft’s operating system, possible fixes are actually included with the operating system. The problem is that the company has hidden a lot of these fixes in a way that makes it almost impossible for anyone to know that they even have the ability to fix these issues. If you want to improve your experience, you have to make differences, and that’s not something most people are willing to do.

Some patches are region locked

Wait, really?

Do you hate that Microsoft Edge is the default browser in Windows 11? What about the fact that the taskbar search bar still uses Edge and Bing, even if you set a different default? These are things that Microsoft has gotten by with in the United States and many other markets, but the company has had to develop solutions to these annoyances in order to comply with the European Union’s Digital Markets Act.

If your computer is from one of these regions, you can uninstall Microsoft Edge like any other app, and you can also add different search engines (in theory) to the Windows search bar so that your web searches are directed to the browser and engine you prefer.

For those living in the US, it’s actually possible to configure Windows to change these behaviors, but it’s a complicated trick that requires redoing the out-of-the-box (OOBE) experience, even though you shouldn’t actually lose any data. It would certainly be nice to see that it becomes possible to remove Edge and set different search engines without the need for third-party tools, but we’ll just have to keep hoping.

Windows Search Can Be Made Faster

Well, sort of

Speaking of the search bar, it’s also quite frustrating that it can easily become frustrating to use because results take too long to update as you type, and some unnecessary suggestions may be promoted to the top instead of what you actually want. It’s already annoying having to rely on Edge for web searches, but it’s even more so when you’re redirected to your web browser when all you wanted to do was open Photoshop.

But if you want the search bar to become a good way to launch your apps, you can improve it significantly by removing web searches and file searches from this interface, focusing it only on apps. When you do this, Windows Search actually becomes much more responsive, so launching apps becomes almost as instantaneous as using a third-party launcher. You lose the ability to quickly find your files, but you can still use File Explorer to search, albeit a little more slowly.

While these options aren’t as hidden as others, finding search indexing options on Windows 11 is still not something everyone will do. It takes a few steps to get there through the Settings app, and turning off file search means removing every indexed location from its list, which most people won’t think to do.

OneDrive automatic backups

And on this point, online accounts

This one is a double whammy of frustrating requirements tied to your Microsoft account. First, there’s the fact that a Microsoft account is required to use a Windows computer. Don’t worry, I can already hear you saying “but you can just log out of your Microsoft account afterwards”. But who is going to do that? Why would anyone think of doing this after being forced to use it in the initial process? And for someone who may not have a Microsoft account in the first place, does this avoid having to create one just to use their new PC? No.

And yes, I know there are also methods to skip online during setup, but again, they are far from obvious. No normal user will try this, not to mention that Microsoft seems to intend to crack down on all of these workarounds.

And on that note, once you sign in with a Microsoft account during setup, Microsoft will also automatically start backing up your Desktop, Documents, and Pictures folders to OneDrive. Back then, Microsoft asked if you wanted it, but now it’s enabled by default, so you can fill the small 5GB limit on OneDrive in a matter of weeks. In this case, it’s not even that the option is particularly difficult to obtain, but the fact that you’re never asked about it means that you probably won’t even realize that your files are being uploaded to the Internet until OneDrive starts warning you about running out of space. It’s just infuriating.

So many registry changes

Fix context menus and more

This isn’t really news at this point, but for a lot of things we don’t like about Windows 11, there are probably registry keys you can use to fix them. For example, if you want to restore the old context menu, which was more compact and had more options, you can go to the Registry Editor and create a few keys that disable the new menu to make it easier for you.

Likewise, Registry Editor can be used to remove many unwanted options that Microsoft has added to the context menu in recent times, such as the option Ask the co-pilot button that appears when you right-click on certain files. You can remove several of these buttons, such as the one allowing you to edit a video with Clipchamp, or a text file with Notepad (not to be confused with the standard Open button, which can still use Notepad for supported files). You can even delete the Gallery page in File Explorer using the registry.

And these are just some of the most common complaints. Recently we discussed a potential File Explorer slowdown resulting from an old feature from the Windows XP era, and you can disable this feature by editing the registry, which can improve performance. The fact is that no regular user wants to mess with the registry. Even though it’s not that complex, it certainly looks intimidating with its huge folder, real and confusing names for a lot of items.

Let’s not forget Smart App Control

However, ensuring your safety is a good excuse

This one is a little different because not everyone is going to run into it, but I recently saw complaints about it on Reddit and found it interesting that it can be such a pain. Smart App Control essentially checks the apps you use against a database of apps considered “trusted” and, in Microsoft’s eyes, more secure. It actually tried to adapt to you, so after a few days’ trial, if it detects that you often use apps outside the trusted pool, Smart App Control is disabled, but once enabled it can be very frustrating.

When enabled, Smart App Control will block untrusted apps from running, and the message that appears isn’t really specific about why this is happening or what you can do to bypass the block. You can learn about it on the Internet, but most people will see it and simply be dissuaded from running an application they need.

It’s easy to miss the fact that Smart App Control can actually be turned off so you can run whatever you want on your computer, and the option is buried deep within the Windows Security app. If your first thought is to go to the Settings app to turn it off, that’s a few more hoops to jump through.

Control must be clear

Those who customize Windows 11 to make it work the way they want will often scoff at those who complain, saying that the options to disable this or that already exist. And it is true that they are, but true control must also mean knowledge of its existence. It’s like being trapped in a cage that only unlocks if you press the door to the rhythm of Mambo #5. Yes, you can get away with it, but most people will never think about it.

Windows 11 should be designed with user control at the forefront, and that’s simply not the case. Hopefully, as Microsoft looks to fix this, this is one of the big things that changes.