How To Open The Full Right-Click Menu By Default On Windows 11

Microsoft delivered a massive UI overhaul with the Windows 11 update. The software giant simplified and streamlined much of the system and core apps’ UI, which is usually a good thing. One of the many changes was the context menu in File Explorer, which has a modernized design with fewer options in an effort to look cleaner and easier to use on your laptop.

That said, not everyone is on board with this change, and you might want to bring back the classic context menu with all the options you’re used to seeing. The good news is you can, and we’re here to show you how.

Related

Windows 11: Everything you need to know

Windows 11 is the latest and greatest operating system from Microsoft, and it packs a ton of changes. Here’s what you need to know.

If you want faster access to the classic context menu but don’t want to make a permanent change to your system, you can easily skip the modern context menu by simply holding down Shift on your keyboard when you right-click something. That way, you can just skip the modern menu when you need to, instead of having to choose between one version or the other overall.

You can modify the Windows registry to enable the classic context menu on your PC. To make that long-term change, you can use the Registry Editor. Follow the steps below to make this adjustment.

1. Open the Start menu and search for regedit then press Enter to open Registry Editor.
2. Navigate to the folder name below (you can copy the text and enter it in the address bar at the top).

   HKEY_CURRENT_USERSOFTWARECLASSESCLSID

3. Right-click the CLSID folder on the left-side pane and choose New> Key.

   

4. Name the key {86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2} when prompted.
5. Right-click this new folder and choose New> Key again. Name this InprocServer32 here.

   

6. Open this new folder and double-click the (Default) value. Click OK to save it with the Value data field left blank.

   While you’re not making any changes to the value, you still need to open it and save it as is, otherwise the process won’t work.

7. Close Registry Editor.
8. Restart the Windows Explorer process from the Task Manager, or simply reboot your PC to see the changes.

   

Enable the classic context menu using Windows Terminal (Command Prompt)

If you prefer using the command line, Windows Terminal can also be used to modify the registry, and it can actually be a bit faster. Here’s how to do it:

1. Press Windows + X (or right-click the Start menu icon) and choose Terminal (Admin).

   

2. Copy and paste the command below into Windows Terminal, then press Enter.

   reg add "HKCUSoftwareClassesCLSID{86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}InprocServer32" /f /ve

3. If everything goes right, you’ll see a confirmation message.

   

4. Close Windows Terminal.
5. Restart the Windows Explorer process from the Task Manager, or simply reboot your PC to see the changes.

You can always revert to the original Windows 11 design by deleting the key you created, which you can also do with either the Registry Editor or Windows Terminal. The Registry Editor process is fairly self-explanatory if you followed the steps above, but if you want to use Windows Terminal, simply use this command to delete it:

reg delete "HKCUSoftwareClassesCLSID{86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}" /f

Just like the steps above, you’ll need to restart the computer (or via Windows Explorer) to see these changes.

The right-click menu is a convenient way to access advanced functions on both Windows and Mac devices, and Microsoft’s new design for it may be easier to read and use, but it’s still missing some features, especially as it integrates with some older apps. Things have been getting better as new apps integrate with the new menu, but if you still don’t like it, you can use the steps above to be able to see the full context menu easily. Aside from getting the right-click menu back, here are other things you can tweak to get yourself comfortable with a new Windows experience.