Technology in terms you understand. Sign up for the Confident Computing newsletter for weekly solutions to make your life easier. Click here and get The Ask Leo! Guide to Staying Safe on the Internet — FREE Edition as my thank you for subscribing!

Restore the Right-Click Menu in Windows 11

Fix a common complaint.

The change to the Windows 11 right-click menu is annoying to many people. We can fix that (for now).
Applies to Windows: 11
New Windows 11 Right-click.
The right-click menu in Windows 11. (Screenshot: askleo.com)

I originally published this as an Ask Leo! Tip of the Day, but in a recent article discussing the differences between Windows 10 and 11, it came up so often that I’ve done a full article and demonstration.

Let’s get the old (and apparently much missed) Windows File Explorer right-click menu back.

Become a Patron of Ask Leo! and go ad-free!

TL;DR:

The old right-click

Miss the old right-click menu in Windows 11? A simple registry tweak brings it back. Run the provided command in Command Prompt and restart Explorer or reboot. The result: the classic right-click menu you’re used to. But be warned: Microsoft may remove this workaround in future updates.

In short: the magic command

In a Windows Command Prompt, run the following command1.

reg.exe add "HKCU\Software\Classes\CLSID\{86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}\InprocServer32" /f /ve

You can copy-paste it directly from this page into Windows Command Prompt. You may be given a UAC prompt and/or a warning about making registry changes.

After the command has been run, either reboot or kill explorer.exe and re-run it. You should now have the old, lengthy right-click menu back.

Before and after

The problem we’re attempting to fix is this. If you right-click on a file without the modification, you’ll get the Windows 11 version of the right-click menu.

Windows 11 File Explorer Right-Click Menu.
Windows 11 File Explorer right-click menu. (Screenshot: askleo.com)

There are two major issues with it:

  • Many people don’t like the icons across the top, preferring normal menu items for these common operations.
  • Many additional menu items require a second click on “Show more options” to be displayed.

After applying the registry setting, the right-click menu returns to its older look and feel.

Windows 11 File Explorer Old Right-Click Menu.
Old File Explorer right-click menu. (Screenshot: askleo.com)

Many people find this much more familiar and comfortable. It’s one less change they need to deal with.

Do this

Part of me suggests that you get used to the new layout. It’s quite possible that the registry setting we’ve applied above will stop working at some point.

I also recognize that this change can be annoying. Apply the tweak as you see fit.

Subscribe to Confident Computing! Less frustration and more confidence, solutions, answers, and tips in your inbox every week.

Podcast audio

Play

Footnotes & References

1: At your own risk, of course. Make sure you’re fully backed up before running this.

3 comments on “Restore the Right-Click Menu in Windows 11”

  1. I had applied this change to my installation a few months ago, but reverted the change. I am used to the new layout, and programs have started integrating into the new context menu. These changes don’t require elevating privileges to admin, and they seem to take effect immediately without restarting Windows Explorer.

    This article should probably tell people how to revert those changes if they want. The command to do so replaces “add” with “delete”.

    reg.exe delete “HKCU\Software\Classes\CLSID\{86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}\InprocServer32” /f /ve

    Reply
  2. I’ve gone even further with the Context Menu, adding “Copy to Folder” and “Move to Folder” and a few other options, using registry edits.
    I have a folder with those registry keys and others to roll back Windows Explorer to the way it was in Windows 10. Whenever I perform a clean install of Windows or get a new computer, I just open the folder and add the registry entries.
    My experience has been that when Windows 11 updates, the changes remain in place.

    Reply
  3. You mean you make a desktop file, put it in with files and folders, repeat the process an type no instead of leaving yes?

    Reply

Leave a reply:

Before commenting please:

  • Read the article.
  • Comment on the article.
  • No personal information.
  • No spam.

Comments violating those rules will be removed. Comments that don't add value will be removed, including off-topic or content-free comments, or comments that look even a little bit like spam. All comments containing links and certain keywords will be moderated before publication.

I want comments to be valuable for everyone, including those who come later and take the time to read.