Microsoft’s view of a constantly-updating OS with Windows 11 isn’t always about removing features. Some functionality also gets ripped out from time to time, and the next feature to get kicked to the curb is Suggested Actions.
Windows 11’s “Suggested Actions” feature, which was just added two years ago and aimed to predict and streamline user actions based on copied content, is being discontinued. The feature, designed to reduce the number of steps required to perform tasks like creating calendar events or calling phone numbers, was found by many to have been plagued with inconsistencies and functionality issues.
Suggested Actions was a cool idea. It was intended to provide helpful suggestions based on the content copied to the clipboard. For one, copying a phone number would prompt options to make a call or search for information about the number online.
However, many people reported that the feature was unreliable, often failing to appear or appearing in irrelevant contexts. Even when it did function as intended, there were reports of integration issues, such as the inability to open the Calendar app directly from the suggestion.
Microsoft had initially planned to enhance Suggested Actions with machine learning and local models to improve its accuracy and relevance. However, the company has now confirmed that the feature will be removed in a future Windows 11 update, with no plans to replace it with similar functionality.
With the future improvements Microsoft promised, it could’ve become a really useful feature. But sometimes it’s just not meant to be. Microsoft didn’t want to invest resources upon working on this further, or maybe it found it too hard to be worth working on, and decided to kill it and prioritize other AI features.
Of course, usage also matters—if people aren’t interested in this, then Microsoft might just choose to not work on it. The fact that it’s borked plays a factor in how much people used it, but we’ll never know if people would’ve used it considerably if it was working properly.
Source: Windows Latest
