One of the most controversial changes Microsoft made in Windows 11 was the complete redesign of the right-click context menu. Instead of the massive, text-heavy list found in Windows 10, the new menu is highly condensed, hiding many options (like advanced ZIP tools, Git commands, or third-party antivirus scans) behind a secondary button labelled “Show more options” (or Shift + F10).
For power users and developers who constantly interact with third-party extensions, having to click twice just to access a primary workflow tool is incredibly frustrating. If you despise the new condensed menu and want immediate access to your full list of commands every time you right-click, you can force Windows 11 to permanently restore the classic Windows 10 context menu.
How to Restore the Classic Context Menu in Windows 11
You must modify the Windows Registry to bypass the new menu design. Warning: Always be careful when editing the registry.
- Click the Start button, type cmd, right-click on the “Command Prompt” result, and select Run as administrator.
- In the black Command Prompt window, carefully copy and paste the following exact command:
reg add "HKCU\Software\Classes\CLSID\{86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}\InprocServer32" /f /ve - Press Enter to execute the command. You should see a message saying “The operation completed successfully.”
- To apply the registry change, you must restart the Windows Explorer process. You can do this by rebooting your PC, or by running this second command:
taskkill /f /im explorer.exe & start explorer.exe
Your screen will flash briefly. Now, whenever you right-click a file or folder on your desktop or in File Explorer, Windows 11 will immediately present you with the massive, classic context menu featuring all your third-party tools, completely skipping the “Show more options” barrier.