Windows 11 has entirely refreshed the right-click or the context menu in Windows 11 and has replaced it with a completely new menu. While this new redesign has removed some unnecessary shortcuts and options, the new look can be a bit daunting at first. Thankfully, it can be easily customized to suit your needs.
There are two ways to go about it. You can either revert to the old Windows 10 style context menu and add your favorite app list. Or, you can add the new apps directly. The only catch is that the apps will appear when you click on Show more options.
Either way, you can add and remove apps as per your preference.
Here’s how to change and customize the right-click menu in Windows 11.
How to Bring Back the Old Context Menu in Windows 11
The ‘Show More Options’ option is annoying. For example, I have to click numerous times to send a file to my phone. And when that happens a dozen times in a day, it can get annoying.
There are two ways to bring back the old Windows 10 context menu. You can either edit the Registry Editor entries. Or, you can tweak the Registry keys directly via Command Prompt. The second step is easy.
The Windows Registry Editor is the hub of all Windows settings. And if you know the right key and value, you can customize some parts of your PC as per your preference.
However, editing the Registry Editor is no child’s play, and playing with the wrong key & value set may break your computer.
Note: Take a backup of the Registry before you make any changes.
Step 1: Click on the Windows button, type regedit and hit Enter to open the Registry Editor.
Step 2: Navigate to the following path:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\CLSID
Step 3: Once the path opens, right-click and select New > Key.
This will create a new key on the left panel. Once done, rename the key with the following name,
{86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}
Step 4: Select the newly-created key, and then right-click on the right panel, and choose New > Key.
Now, rename the newly created key to the name below,
InprocServer32
Step 5: Select the newly-created InprocServer32 folder and right-click on the Default value. Once done, select Modify.
Keep the Value Data field empty and hit the Ok button.
All you need to do is restart your Windows 11 laptop/PC to be welcomed with the old context menu.
To bring back the new context menu, delete the InprocServer32 key.
Alternate Route: Via Command Prompt
If you do not want to mess around with the Keys and Values, you can add the keys directly via Command Prompt.
Step 1: Open Command Prompt and paste the following command:
reg add "HKCU\Software\Classes\CLSID\{86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}\InprocServer32" /f /ve
This simple action will add both the keys in the correct sequence.
Step 2: Restart the computer and that’s about it.
This is a much faster method.
How to Add and Customize the Right-Click Menu
Once you have the old context menu, you can tweak it to add a couple of your frequently-used apps. The apps will appear in the first menu, saving you time in the long run.
Do note that you can add only apps and not folders and files. For the latter, you have to take the aid of the Taskbar.
Like the method above, adding apps to the context menu in Windows 11 also involves editing the Registry entries. We’ll be adding two apps in our example, namely Notepad and Calculator.
Step 1: Open the Registry Editor and navigate to the path below:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shell
Step 2: Right-click on the right panel, and add a new Key. Name it ‘Notepad.’
Double-click on Default and add ‘&Notepad’ under Value data.
Step 3: Select the newly created key, and right-click again to add a new key underneath the Notepad folder. Rename it as ‘command.’
Double-click to modify the Value and add the following under Value data.
Notepad.exe
Head back to the desktop and right-click to see the new values in the context menu.
Repeat the steps to add apps like Calculator or MS Word.
Note: To remove an app from the right-click menu in Windows 11, remove the entries under the Shell folder.
Again, we’d advise you to take a backup before you remove any keys.
You can also add the apps directly to the right-click menu in Windows 11 without reverting to the old menu,
The only limitation is that they will be available only when you click on Show more options.
Old and New
That’s how you can customize the right-click menu in Windows 11. The default menu looks fine but restrictive. It takes time in getting used to. You can customize it and put the frequently used apps and options over there.
Last updated on 28 February, 2022
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There is no CLSID entry listed under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\ on my new Lenovo Ideapad PC that uses Windows 11.
Yes it does, maybe you´re looking at the first folders that start with a dot (.*), I had the same problem. Scroll way down and you´ll find it.
I had the same problem. If you, like me, run regedit on the system account:
psexec -s -i regedit.exe
then there will be no CLSID entry
just run the plain vanilla regedit.exe as the current user, and CLSID will show up
Wow. thanks a Lot 😍
Thanks a lot for this very helpful tip! Win 11 is excellent but the context menu, compared to Win 10, is frustrating. Why make people click a couple of times when they’re used to doing it just once?
Works like a charm. THANKS A LOT, it was driving me crazy.
Ugh this is too complex for me, we really need microsoft itself to make this an easy option for people in the personalise menu. Not all of us are tech wizards.
Thanks! New one was really killing productivity.
This nerfed the right-click menu, as it didn’t have all the normal right-click options one being Delete! So, I had to undo your suggested changes.
Thank you! I have cerebral palsy, have been using computers since pre GUI operating systems, and am growing tired of restrictions such as this and the skinny scroll bars and the cut down right click menu. No, we cannot stand still, but these pointless, productivity limiting changes really baffle me. What do Tim Cook and Bill Gates hope to achieve?
If anybody has a way of forcing conventional scroll bars in all applications, I would be eternally grateful. The situation is limiting my choice of software which previously, only happened due to cost.
Something has gone wrong here folks.
Thank you again.
Sjd_22
I have seen a right click context menu at my previous employer that had copy and paste as one menu choice so that we could quickly copy a folder and its contents with one click any idea how to get that to work.
You should move command line option as the first and recommended option- it is simpler and not error-prone as multiple UI steps with regedit.
It makes your article more useful than a few similar returned by Google.
Could you tell me exactly how I could remove “Include in Library” and “Restore Previous Versions” from the context menu in file explorer” with the instructions you gave here??
Sadly, this approach does not always work. Thanks anyway though.
Command prompt worked like a charm. Thank you!! So much happier now 🙂
I took the easier route of copying and pasting at the command prompt. It did EXACTLY what we needed, and removed a source of annoyance quickly and easily. Thank you!
Thank you. I went with the command line option, and it worked beautifully. Microsoft needs to stop making Windows more difficult to use, and fix the stuff that’s broken instead.
Thank you! I really appreciate your article on how to do this. I had tried the instructions on other websites, but they said the first part was HKCU\, but it should have said HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ as this article does. While I wasn’t able to get the command prompt option to work, once I followed your instructions, I was able to add it using the Registry, and it worked without even having to log out and back into Windows. I really missed being able to use the full right-click menu. Thank you so much.