Windows 11 brought with it a lot of visual changes to Windows, simplifying and streamlining much of the UI, which is generally a good thing. One of the many changes is the context menu in File Explorer, which has a modernized design with fewer options in an effort to look cleaner and easier to use.

However, 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. The good news is you can, and we're here to show you how.

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Enable the classic context menu with Registry Editor

Enabling the classic context menu can be done by modifying the Windows registry, and for that, you can use the Registry Editor. Here's how it goes:

  1. Open the Start menu and search for regedit then press Enter to open Registry Editor
  2. Navigate to the following folder (you can copy the text and enter it in the address bar at the top):
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\CLASSES\CLSID\
  3. Right-click the folder on the left-side pane and choose New > Key.
    Add registry key in Windows 11
  4. Name the key {86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}
  5. Right-click this new folder and choose New > Key again. Name it InprocServer32.
    Screenshot of Registry Editor showing a specific folder structure needed to enable the classic context menu
  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 or your PC to see the changes take effect.

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).
    Screenshot of the Windows 11 Start context menu highlighting the Terminal (Admin) option
  2. Copy and paste the following command into Windows Terminal, then press Enter:
    reg add "HKCU\Software\Classes\CLSID\{86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}\InprocServer32" /f /ve
  3. If everything goes right, you'll see a confirmation message.
    Windows Terminal confirmation message after entering a command to modify the registry
  4. Close Windows Terminal.
  5. Restart the Windows Explorer process or your PC to see the changes.

Re-enable Windows 11's default right-click context menu

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 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:

reg delete "HKCU\Software\Classes\CLSID\{86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}" /f

Just like the steps above, you'll need to restart the computer or Windows Explorer to see the changes.

Use the classic context menu as needed

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 or the other.

The classic right-click menu on Windows

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 integrations 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 get the full context menu more easily.

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