How to bring back Windows 10’s context menus – Guide
Windows 11’s new right-click context menu is larger and easier to read than Windows 10’s. Depending on what you right-click, the context menu now includes a row of icons for basic actions like copy, paste, and delete. The problem is that the Windows 11 context menu now hides some functionality you might want behind ‘Show more options’ button, which brings up an entirely different context menu.
Windows 11 introduces a new context menu system that is different from the one used in previous versions of Windows. The new context menus are located at the bottom of the screen, and they are much more customizable than the ones found in earlier versions of Windows. If you don’t like the new context menus, you can go back to the classic context menus by using one of the following methods:
- Right-click on any item in your desktop and select “Open In New Window.” This will open a new window that has all of the same options as your desktop background, including your context menus.
- Click on “My Computer” in the top left corner of your screen and select “Open In New Window.” This will open a new window that has all of the same options as your computer’s main window, including your context menus.
- Click on “Start” in the top left corner of your screen and select “Open In New Window.” This will open a new window that has all of the same options as your Start button, including your context menus.
Why Windows 11 Context Menus Have Fewer Entries
Some programs deserve to be inserted into the context menu more than others. I love the 7-Zip context menu integration because it allows me to easily unzip files to the current directory or to a new one with just a right click. But others drive me crazy and make my context menus a real pain to navigate – I don’t want Dropbox, Windows Media Player or Cast to Device there because I don’t use any of them features regularly. Any Windows installation older than a year is guaranteed to have a messy and inefficient context menu unless you deliberately select it with a program like ShellExView. ..
Microsoft has been vocal about the shortcomings of the context menu for a while now. The menu is excessively long and has not been updated in over 20 years, according to Microsoft. Windows 11 aims to fix these issues by streamlining the menu and making it more user-friendly. ..
The Windows 10 menu has been redesigned to better separate the basic Windows context menu stuff from the application-specific stuff. However, this change means that some apps no longer fit into the context menu the way they used to. For example, when I launch Nvidia Control Panel, the shortcut does not show up in my context menu unless I click “Show more options” to reveal the old menu. ..
The Windows 11 context menu is still available, but it may not be as functional as you are used to. If you do not want the new design or cannot wait for the updates to restore the functionality, you can revert to classic context menus.
How to restore classic context menus in Windows 11
If you’re one of the many Windows 10 users who find themselves constantly digging into the “Show more options” menu to do things they used to be able to do more conveniently in Windows 10, here’s a quick fix for you: Windows 11 context menus are easier to use than those in Windows 10 if you know how to use them. ..
In the Registry Editor, open the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
In the Winlogon key, open the following registry value: “Userinit”=dword:00000001
Change the value to “Userinit”=dword:00000002
In the Windows Registry, navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\CLSID
Locate the CLSID for the application you want to uninstall. In this example, we will be looking for the CLSID for the Microsoft Office 2013 application.
Right-click on the CLSID and select “Delete.” ..
Right-click > New > Key and paste this name: {86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2} ..
With the new key you just created highlighted, again right-click > New > Key and paste this name: InprocServer32. ..
Double-click the registry entry (Default) and press Enter without typing anything to set its value to blank.
To see your new (classic) context menu, restart your computer or open Task Manager, scroll down to the Windows Explorer process and right-click > End Task. Then File > Run new task and type explorer.exe to restart the Windows explorer process. And that’s it: context menus changed! ..
Final note
This guide will show you how to bring back the context menus in Windows 10. If you have any questions about this article, feel free to ask us in the comments below. Additionally, please share this article with your friends if you enjoyed it! ..
