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Microsoft tests ‘Suggested Actions’ in Windows 11. Insiders: Can we turn it off?

It looks like you've copied a phone number, would you like help?

The Windows Insider Dev Channel has introduced a feature it is calling "Suggested Actions" to the work-in-progress build of Windows 11, and testers love it so much they are already asking how to turn it off.

Build 25115 was released to the Dev Channel last night, marking the end of the period where Dev and Beta channels were synchronized and Insiders could switch between the two.

The new Dev Channel means Microsoft can start adding back the features it removed while knocking the operating system into shape ahead of a potential release. It also added some that might raise an eyebrow or two.

The first is Suggested Actions: "a new feature in this build for making everyday tasks quicker in Windows 11 through inline suggested actions," according to Microsoft.

If you copy a phone number, for example, a box will pop up suggesting you might want to call it. This could perhaps be through Windows' Teams "or other installed apps that offer click-to-dial call functions."

The same applies to copying a date and/or time. Users doing this will be asked if they'd like to create an event using Outlook or "supported calendar apps."

Exactly how one gets third-party apps into these pop-ups isn't entirely clear. We asked Microsoft what steps a third party would need to take to get on the guest list (perhaps a simple association?) but the company has yet to respond.

Other updates included a return for the Sound Recorder app (replacing the Voice Recorder) replete with whizzy new visualizations and a variety of fixes.

As with all Dev Channel features, there is no guarantee that the updated audio recorder will make it to release, but with it being documented as part of Microsoft's "reimagining" of the Windows 11 inbox apps, it seems likely.

Unfortunately, Windows Insiders on ARM64 PCs hoping to join in the Dev Channel are out of luck this time since the build is not on offer.

Then again, if a release is skipped, but almost nobody is using the hardware for it, can it be said to have been skipped at all? ®

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