With the release of the Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4660 (Beta Channel), Microsoft has started disabling Suggested actions, a feature designed to identify selected content and suggest relevant actions.
Starting with the beta builds, the feature is now being gradually removed from the OS. With the typical three-to-four-weeks waiting period for updates to reach the production channel, we may see Suggested actions to be completely removed from Windows 11 by February 2024.
The deprecation of Suggested actions was first spotted by Windows Latest back in December 2024. It came from Microsoft’s deprecated features document, which explicitly stated, “Suggested actions that appear when you copy a phone number or future date in Windows 11 are deprecated and will be removed in a future Windows 11 update.”
Microsoft first shipped Suggested actions to Windows 11 (Preview Builds) in 2022, but it wasn’t available for end users until early 2023.
For those unaware, it used to be a convenience-focused feature in Windows 11 that identifies selected texts like phone numbers or future dates. It then provides actionable suggestions, such as creating an event if you have selected a date or dialing the number.
Why Microsoft is phasing out Suggested actions
Suggested actions was designed to help users boost productivity by reducing manual input. However, the utility just never worked as intended.
Most of the time, the feature failed to appear when needed, and when it did, its integration was unreliable. There have been many instances where users reported its inconsistent functionality.
For instance, as spotted by Windows Latest in a Feedback Hub post, one user reported, “Suggested actions on copy does not work for copying phone numbers.”
Similarly, another user noted that they don’t want Suggested actions on copy to pop up when they’re working with dates in Excel.
From a functional standpoint, the frequent failure of the feature and lack of user adoption seem to be the main reasons Microsoft might have thought its removal was the most logical course of action.
Although Microsoft had big plans to improve Suggested actions with machine learning for better functionality, those plans are now abandoned as the feature failed to find its footing.
As Microsoft continues to refine Windows 11 with AI-based features like AI Shell, it’s clear that the company is focusing on tools that provide more consistent, seamless, and reliable integration with user workflows.
With the removal of Suggested actions, we can expect to see new, more reliable features that will likely leverage machine learning and artificial intelligence in ways that better serve Windows users in the near future.
Microsoft also recently committed to redefining Windows 11 as an AI-driven OS with more privacy features.
What are your thoughts on this change? Have you used Suggested actions, and do you think its removal will impact your workflow? Let us know your views in the comment section below.
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