Can't right-click images on X? How to restore your browser's context menu

X has changed how right-clicking works on its website. When you right-click a post on your timeline, you now get X's custom context menu instead of your browser's built-in menu.

When you right-click an image on X's website, a menu appears with two options: "Copy photo link" and "Post photo." The new context menu gives you access to X-specific features, but it also prevents you from using familiar browser options, such as saving an image or opening it in a new tab.

To access your browser's original context menu, right-click again while X's custom menu is open.

X introduces a custom context menu on its website

Some websites customize the context menu that appears when you right-click. This is common in web-based productivity tools such as Figma and Canva.

Until recently, X's website used the browser's default context menu without any customization.

X has since introduced its own context menu for images in timeline posts. When you right-click an image in a post on your timeline, you get two options: "Copy photo link" and "Post photo."

You can copy an image link using your browser's standard context menu, but the "Post photo" feature is exclusive to X.

When you use "Post photo," X creates a new post that quotes the image and includes credit to the original poster, rather than copying the image and pasting it into a new post. Anyone who taps the quoted image can view the original post. This works differently from copying or downloading an image through your browser and attaching it to a new post.

How to access your browser's context menu

X's custom context menu includes a useful "Post photo" feature, but you may still want to access your browser's standard context menu.

There are two ways to open your browser's context menu for images attached to posts on X.

When viewing a post in your timeline

If you want to open the browser's context menu for an image in a timeline post, follow these steps:

1. Right-click the image to open X's custom context menu.

2. With X's context menu open, right-click a different part of the image.

3. 1. Your browser's context menu will appear.

When viewing an enlarged image

If you click an image in a timeline post to enlarge it, X won't show its custom context menu. You can right-click the enlarged image to access your browser's standard context menu as before.

My analysis

X launched the feature that lets users quote images from other people's posts on October 28. When you quote an image using this feature, X credits the original poster. If the users monetize their content through the Original Content Rewards program, both can earn revenue.

X has recently introduced several features that encourage users to share other people's content in different ways, alongside its efforts to promote original content. In addition to image quoting, X has introduced a feature for clipping and reposting videos and an option to capture screenshots of posts from the share menu in its Android app.

I suspect X introduced its custom context menu as part of this effort to make sharing content easier on the web.

At the time of writing, I checked the X app on my Android device and found the following options when long-pressing an image:

• Post image
• Copy photo
• Save image
• Share
• Create video with Grok
• Edit image with Grok

Only two of these options have made their way into the context menu on X's website. X has been rolling out a redesigned web interface, and I hope the new version brings more of the features that users can access in the mobile app.