The Right Click Menu or the Context Menu is the menu, which appears when you right-click on the desktop or a file or folder in Windows. This menu gives you added functionality by offering you actions you can take with the item. Most programs like to stuff their commands in this menu. While they can be useful, the problem is that even when you uninstall the programs, they fail to remove the respective context menu item, making the menu slow and appear cluttered. Context Menu Editors can help you manage your right-click context menu items in Windows 11/10.
Edit Context Menu in Windows 11/10
If you wish to reduce this clutter or remove items from this menu that are no longer useful, you can do so. Most programs will offer the Explorer integration in their Settings, and if you look around, you may be able to find it and disable the File Explorer context menu integration. If not, you must edit the registry or use third-party freeware.
Using Registry Editor
Run regedit to open the Registry Editor and navigate to the following key:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers
Here, you need to simply delete the keys you don’t want. There are other registry locations too, where this data may be stored.
Context Menu Editors for Windows 11/10
You can also use third-party freeware context menu editors to remove or add or edit context menu items. Go through the list and see which supports your version of Windows OS.
- Ultimate Windows Customizer, Right-Click Extender, Ultimate Windows Tweaker, & Context Menu Editor
- ContextEdit
- ShellExtView or ShellMenuView
- Easy Context Menu
- MenuMaid
- File Menu Tools.
1) Ultimate Windows Customizer, Right-Click Extender, Ultimate Windows Tweaker, & Context Menu Editor
Some of our following freeware like Ultimate Windows Tweaker will help you edit the right-click context menu easily. It is one of the best tools that you can find in the market right now. From adding an option like Create File to Select All, you can add any option in your context menu with the help of this freeware.
Ultimate Windows Customizer, Right-Click Extender , Ultimate Windows Tweaker, and Context Menu Editor are freeware releases from TheWindowsClub, and you may want to check them out. They have been developed for Windows 7 but may work on Windows 11/10 too.
2) ContextEdit
ContextEdit will allow you to easily control the items on your Windows File Explorer context menu.
The context menu often contains submenus with rarely used commands. These commands come from one of two places: shell commands stored within the system Registry or context menu handlers. Get it here.
TIP: You can also remove Rotate Left and Rotate Right from Context Menu for Images.
3) ShellExtView or ShellMenuView
You can also try ShellExtView or ShellMenuView. They are small utilities that display the list of static menu items that appear in the context menu when you right-click a file/folder in Windows Explorer and allow you to easily disable or edit unwanted menu items. The highlight of this tool is that you can show or hide an option by clicking once.
4) Easy Context Menu
Easy Context Menu freeware will let you add a Program or Icon to the right-click menu. Whether you want to add Command Prompt or Reduce Memory option, it is possible to add all these options using this tool. The best part about this software is that you can insert various System Tools into the context menu, such as Task Manager, Registry Editor, etc.
Read: Nilesoft Free Context Menu Manager for Explorer
5) MenuMaid
If you are looking for a fast and easy way to clean up your Windows Explorer right-click context menu, try MenuMaid.
Simply download the portable freeware app MenuMaid and uncheck the items you don’t want to appear. Then, if you want to restore them, check them again.
6) File Menu Tools
File Menu Tools (link removed) lets you add, delete, and customize the context menu items of Windows Explorer—but according to the comments below, it now comes bundled with a lot of crapware.
It lets configure the following aspects:
- Add some build-in utilities to do operations over files and folders.
- Add customized commands that let you run external applications, copy/move to a specific folder, or delete specific file types.
- Configure the “Sends to…” submenu”.
- Enable/disable the commands which are added by other applications to the context menu and much more!
How do I add a folder to the context menu?
You can use any of the aforementioned software to add a folder to the right-click context menu. Whether you want to add a custom folder or a Library folder, these tools make it possible to do both.
How do I modify a context menu?
To modify a context menu in Windows 11/10, you must use third-party software such as Ultimate Windows Customizer, ContextEdit, etc. These tools help you add or remove items from your existing context menu.
How do I add Excel to the new context menu?
If you use Windows 11, there is no option to add Excel or any other program to the new context menu. However, if you use Windows 10, you could use the aforementioned tools to include Excel in the New context menu. On the other hand, it is possible to use the Registry Editor to add or remove programs, such as Excel, from the context menu.
TIP: Read this post if you want to remove items from the “New” Context Menu.
Do let us know how you manage to keep your Explorer right-click context menu clean and tidy!
