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How can I remove/add custom items/shortcuts to the context menu (right-click menu) by modifying the Windows registry? I am not looking for a graphical tool like those listed in Edit right-click context menus in Windows 7, I want to do it myself by changing the registry keys manually.

example context menu

So:

  • How can I do this?
  • Where I can find the values that Registry use to make this menu?
  • How can I restore the default values if something went wrong?
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Possible duplicate: superuser.com/questions/209556/… – Thiago M. Jul 18 '11 at 18:47
I don't need graphical solutions,I mean In registry. – Binarylife Jul 18 '11 at 18:51
Could you please edit your question to make that a little bit more clear? I understand the distinction between these two questions, but at first glance that's not apparent. – nhinkle♦ Jul 18 '11 at 18:55
@nhinkle: post updated , and thanks for the edit. – Binarylife Jul 18 '11 at 19:01
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We should make this into a wiki. – surfasb Jul 19 '11 at 7:36
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2 Answers

up vote 5 down vote accepted

The registry entries you should specifically look at are:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell (for specific file types)
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers (also for specific file types)
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFileSystemObjects\ShellEx (for all context menus)
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell (for folders)
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers (also for folders)

Remember to always backup your registry before editing it by going to File > Export... in the regedit.exe application.

Or if you prefer to do it using an application (which apparently you don't but I'll put it in here anyway):

You can use ShellExView and ShellMenuView to see a list of all current (and past, as long as the entries have not been removed) context menu items and disable or enable them from there.

Source: How-To Geek

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Instead of just linking to an external source, please edit your question to include a summary of the important parts of the guide, and then cite your information with the link as a reference. – nhinkle♦ Jul 18 '11 at 18:56
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Thanks for the tip, I've edited my answer to add some more info. – AUAnonymous Jul 18 '11 at 19:02
Thanks for your updates, @AUAnonymous. Much better now! – nhinkle♦ Jul 18 '11 at 19:25
@AUAnonymous , interesting Thanks! – Binarylife Jul 18 '11 at 19:32
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up vote 1 down vote

If you like to play with REGEDIT ;

Run regedit and navigate to

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT*\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers

Here you need to simply delete the keys you don't want.For more see this.

But I would prefer small but functional softwares to do this ;

Alternatively you can use an application to edit the items in the context menu.

ContextEdit is a good freeware you may want to use. You can also try ShellMenuView. It is a small utility that displays the list of static menu items that appeared in the context menu when you right-click a file/folder on Windows Explorer, and allows you to easily disable unwanted menu items.

FileMenu Tools lets you add, delete & customize the context menu items of the Windows Explorer.

It lets configure the following aspects:

  • Add some build-in utilities in order to do operations over files and folders.
  • Add customized commands which let 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 !
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