The new Start menu, revamped Settings app, and redesigned File Explorer with the new context menu are some of the major visual changes found in Windows 11.
The all-new file context menu or right-click menu goes well with the Windows 11 design. However, the new context menu does not display all commands, unlike the classic context menu. The modern context menu shows only common commands when you right-click on a file. If you need access to other commands, you need to click on the Show more options option, which does nothing but opens the classic context menu.
Although the new context menu helps you keep the context menu free of clutter by showing only the most common commands, not all users are happy with the new context menu since we need to open the classic context menu to access many options.
If you are also not happy with the new context menu, you will be glad to know that there is a workaround to disable the new context menu and enable the old context menu.
This guide will show you how to make the old context menu open by default in Windows 11.
Method 1 of 2
Disable the new context menu in Windows 11
NOTE: If you are not comfortable manually editing the Registry via the Command Prompt, please use the software mentioned in Method 2 to disable the new context menu.
Step 1: Open the Command Prompt as administrator. To do that, type CMD in the search, right-click on the Command Prompt entry, and then click the Run as administrator option.
Click on the Yes button when you get the User Account Control screen.
Step 2: At the Command Prompt window, copy and paste the following command:
reg add HKCU\Software\Classes\CLSID\{86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}\InprocServer32 /ve /d “” /f
Hit the Enter key to execute the command, which adds the required key to the Registry. Once the key is added, you will see “The operation completed successfully” message.
Step 3: Finally, copy and paste the following command and press the Enter key to restart the File Explorer.
taskkill /im explorer.exe /f & explorer.exe
That’s it! You just disabled the new context menu and made the classic context menu default. You may close the Command Prompt window now.
NOTE: To enable the new context menu again, execute the following command and then restart the File Explorer.
reg delete HKCU\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2} /f
Method 2 of 2
Use third-party software to enable the old context menu in Windows 11
Win11 Classic Context Menu is a free application designed to help you disable the new context menu in Windows 11 and make the classic context menu default. The program adds a key to Windows 11 Registry.
Download, run the tool, and then click on the Enable Win11 Classic Context Menu Style button to make the classic context menu default. The tool also offers an option to restore the default Windows 11 context menu. You can get the program from this page.
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