Restore Windows 10 Context Menu on Windows 11
In an attempt to be helpful, programmers create various content menu shortcuts for us. However, over time these tend to take up a considerable amount of room. Hence, Windows 11 attempted to help us out, only to fail in typical Microsoft fashion. Rather then give the user a way to easily manage and maintain their context menu, Microsoft Windows 11 simply redesigned it and eliminated many of the actually helpful keyboard shortcuts.
The context menu was simply reorganized to better separate basic Windows context menu items from app-specific items. Part of this redesign means that the way apps hook into the context menu is different, which means developers will have to release updates that take this into account.
The good news is that applications can still tap into the new context menu. In fact, someone’s already forked 7-Zip to update it specifically for Windows 11. If you are like me and really dislike the redesign and can’t wait for those updates to restore your context menu to full functionality, the good news is that it is pretty easy to revert to the classic context menu and this article will show you how.
Restore Classic Context Menus on Windows 11
If you hate having to dig into “Show more options” in your context menu to do something you used to be able to do in Windows 10 a whole lot more conveniently, here’s the trick to fixing Windows 11’s context menus. Alternatively, you may skip the steps below and just download my compiled registry edit using the button below.
- Ensure you have created a Restore Point and have a full working backup of your data before continuing.
- Open the Windows Regedit Editor by pressing the Windows key and typing regedit. Press the Enter key to open it.
- Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\CLSID
- Right-click on CLSID, then select New > Key and paste this in: {86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}
- With the new key above highlighted, right-click on it and select New > Key and paste this in: InprocServer32
- Be sure to “Favorite” that Key folder (from the menu at the top of the Registry Editor window) in case you change your mind and want the fancy new Windows 11 content menu instead.
- In the pane to the right, double-click (Default) registry entry and press Enter without typing anything. This will set its value to (blank). Before making this change, you’ll see under the Data column that it says (value not set), but once you press Enter it’ll show nothing.
Once the above steps are done, you can simply restart your PC so the changes take effect. Alternatively you can open Task Manager, scroll down to the Windows Explorer process, and right-click on it. Then select Restart. And there you go: traditional Windows 10 style context menus restored!
Download the Windows 10 Context Menus on Windows 11 Registry Edit
If using the download button below save the downloaded .zip file to your computer then right click on it to “Extract All…“. Double click on the .reg file to execute the registry edits. When the Windows User Account Control window appears select “Yes” and “Yes” again when the Registry Editor warning appears. Again, ensure you have created a Restore Point and have a full working backup of your data before continuing.
Download the Restore Windows 11 Context Menus Registry Edit
Want to undo using the Windows 10 Context Menu layout on your Windows 11 computer? No problem, simply remove the above applied registry edit or download, unzip and double left mouse click on my enclosed registry edit file. Remember, please ensure that you have created a Restore Point and have a full working backup of your data before continuing. When ready, simply click on the download button below:
Conclusion
As always, I welcome your thoughts, questions or suggestions on my article on restoring the Windows 10 style context menu on Windows 11.
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