Dropbox is a popular service when it comes to personal cloud storage. Many Windows PC and smartphone users choose Dropbox as the primary location to save their data. When a user installs the Dropbox app on his PC, a new entry Move to Dropbox is added to the Explorer context menu.
This option proves handy for users who use the service regularly, as it uploads the file and automatically synchronizes it to the corresponding Dropbox account on the web without opening the Dropbox client. Some users not using this option too often may want to remove this Move to Dropbox entry from the context menu. There is no option given under Dropbox settings to hide or remove it.
The steps outlined in the article will help you remove the Move to Dropbox integration with Windows File Explorer right-click context menu in Windows.
How to Remove Dropbox Context Menu item in Windows 11/10
1] Add a switch
First, right-click on the Dropbox icon in the system tray, click on the Settings icon in the top right-hand corner, and select the Exit Dropbox option.
Next, go to the shortcut created on the computer screen and right-click on the Dropbox shortcut, and choose Properties.
Select the Shortcut tab and later, click on Target box.
Add move-to-dropbox=False switch at the end of the default target text.
Finally, click the Apply button.
Now launch Dropbox by double-clicking on the desktop icon. Right-click on any file or folder. You will not see the Move to Dropbox option in the context menu.
Read: How to remove Dropbox from File Explorer Navigation Pane
2] Unregister the Dropbox DLL
You could also unregister the concerned DLL file, DropboxExt.22.dll file which is responsible for its integration, located here:
C:\Users\usename\AppData\Roaming\Dropbox\bin
Open a command prompt window, type the following and hit Enter:
regsvr32 /u “C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Dropbox\bin\DropboxExt.22.dll”
The context menu item should disappear.
3] Remove Dropbox from the context menu using Registry
To remove Dropbox entries from the context menu, you need to open Registry Editor on your computer and delete DropboxExt from the following locations-
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\lnkfile\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\
After closing the Registry Editor, you will not see any Dropbox entry in the context menu.
4] Use context menu editor
You can also use context menu editors like CCleaner, Right-Click Extender, Context Menu Editor, Ultimate Windows Customizer, etc, to remove or disable this context menu item.
How to add Dropbox to the context menu
To add Dropbox to the context menu, follow these steps-
- Open Notepad on your computer.
- Paste the following texts.
- Click File > Save As.
- Select a location to save your file.
- Enter a name with .reg file extension.
- Select All Files from Save as type.
- Click the Save button.
- Double-click on the file.
- Click on the Yes button.
Let’s check out these steps in detail.
The process of adding Google Drive and Dropbox to the context menu is almost the same. However, you need to have a different set of Registry values. For that, open the Notepad on your computer and paste the following texts
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\DropboxExt]
@="{ECD97DE5-3C8F-4ACB-AEEE-CCAB78F7711C}"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\DropboxExt]
@="{ECD97DE5-3C8F-4ACB-AEEE-CCAB78F7711C}"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\DropboxExt]
@="{ECD97DE5-3C8F-4ACB-AEEE-CCAB78F7711C}"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\lnkfile\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\DropboxExt]
@="{ECD97DE5-3C8F-4ACB-AEEE-CCAB78F7711C}"
Click on File > Save As, select a location where you want to keep the file, enter a name with .reg file extension, select All Files from Save as type drop-down list, and click the Save button.
After that, double-click on the .reg file and click on the Yes button to confirm the inclusion. Now, you should see a set of Dropbox-related options in the right-click context menu.
Based on the file or folder you selected, it might show a different set of options. For example, you can get Share, Send with Transfer, Copy Dropbox link, etc.
Dropbox context menu missing or not working
On the other hand, if you find that your Dropbox context menu item is missing or not working, try the following.
Re-register the concerned DLL file DropboxExt.22.dll file which is responsible for its integration.
Open a command prompt windows, type the following and hit Enter:
regsvr32 “C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Dropbox\bin\DropboxExt.22.dll”
If this does not work, you may need to repair or reinstall the Dropbox software.
How do I remove options from the context menu in Windows?
An admin user can do this by going to Registry Path HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT >Open with > shellex > ContextMenuHandlers, then deleting the keys that add to the context menu. You can also remove the Open With Folder to remove all the additional context menus. If you want to remove some of them, choose to delete or export, then delete the keys you do not want. Ensure you have created a system restore point before removing these entries.
Read: How to remove or add Google Drive and OneDrive to Context Menu
How do I customize the Windows context menu?
While you can use the registry to add or remove items from the context menu, it is better to use software that ensures accidental damage is not done. Tools such as Easy Context Menu, Shell Menu View, MenuMaid, and Context Edit are a few such tools.
