One of the most common user complaints about Windows 11 involves the changes to UI elements. One that annoys me is the new right-click context menu, which seems to go on forever and requires a second click to fully open it. In this article, I’ll show you how to restore the traditional (or legacy) right-click context menu.
Restore The Legacy Context Menu
(Windows 11’s modern context menu)
- Right-click the Start button and select Terminal (Admin)
- Copy and paste the following command into the Terminal and press Enter:
reg.exe add “HKCU\Software\Classes\CLSID\{86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}\InprocServer32” /f /ve - Restart Windows Explorer or restart the PC
Go Back To The Modern Menu
If, for some reason, you want to restore the modern menu:
- Right-click the Start button and select Terminal (Admin)
- Copy and paste the following command into the Terminal and press Enter:
reg.exe delete “HKCU\Software\Classes\CLSID\{86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}” /f - Restart Windows Explorer or restart the PC
What’s your biggest complaint with Windows 11’s UI? Let us know via the comments.
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Thanks Jim, Really happy to get the old menu back!
You are most welcome Brian.
I tried the command, Copy-N-Paste and it found noting. I looked it up in Regedit and found it listed 3 times under Local Machine but without further advice, I am reluctant to start cutting there.
Hey Charles,
The command works. Make sure when you are copying that you don’t include any blank space before or after the command.
I will try again. But the registry line does not exist in HKCU only the 3 times in Local Machine. I used the search in reg edit.
the registry line does not exist in HKCU
Yes, that’s correct, the command is adding in a registry entry.
Also, you are now saying it creates the string in the registry. That is odd when the command is ‘DELETE”
Copied from the command line. as run.
Install the latest PowerShell for new features and improvements! https://aka.ms/PSWindows
PS C:\Users\ke0em> reg.exe delete “HKCU\Software\Classes\CLSID\{86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}” /f
ERROR: The system was unable to find the specified registry key or value.
According to M$ the correct string is:
reg.exe add “HKCU\Software\Classes\CLSID\{86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}\InprocServer32” /f /ve
From the M$ page:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/2287432/(article)-restore-old-right-click-context-menu-in
Please read the article properly.
The first command listed in the article, under “Restore The Legacy Context Menu”, adds in a registry entry and reads as follows:
reg.exe add “HKCU\Software\Classes\CLSID\{86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}\InprocServer32” /f /ve
The second command listed in the article, under “Go Back To Modern Menu”, deletes that registry entry and reads as follows:
reg.exe delete “HKCU\Software\Classes\CLSID\{86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}” /f
Hi Jim. I solved my frustration differently. I uninstalled several apps like: Ask Copilot, Edit in Notepad, and others that I never use, Mindblower!
Jim, You are always the best at finding goodies. So, I gave this a try and got “The operation completed successfully.” return. I restarted “explorer” but did not get your success. I then restarted Windows, but no change. I still had more context menu items that what I want.
Maybe this is because I had used a previous hack a few years back that automatically expanded the “Show more options” link to see them all.
What I would really like is to move context menu items around so the ones I use are near the top. 🙂
Tom
Hey Tom,
There are plenty of free context menu editors but I’m not sure any support moving items around. Here are several to consider:
Easy Context Menu (portable, hasn’t been updated for a while but being portable should work fine in Win 10 and 11)
Context Menu Tuner (portable, this is the one that might allow you to move items around)
ShellMenuView (portable, from the excellent NirSoft, very simple though)
They’re all portable so no harm done if none suit, simply delete the folder.
Nice! Another great job, appreciate this Jim.
The loss of notepad blows!
Did you mean WordPad Gordn?
I just don’t like the look of Notepad now. I dunno, just, ugh…
These commands didn’t work….
…until I realized that when I copy/paste them, the quote symbols are coming through as smart quotes. This happens even if I copy the other versions posted by commenters.
If I change them to the standard vertical quotes then they process fine without giving the “Invalid key name.” error.
Hey Ben,
Yes, this can be an issue with WordPress formatting. That said, I checked, and have now double-checked, and both commands work perfectly for me copied and pasted direct from the article.