Are you unacquainted with Windows 11 and find the File Explorer context menu lacking? No need to be concerned, as you can effortlessly return to the classic menu following this tutorial.
What’s the reason for this? File Explorer may be slow when accessing files, and the revamped right-click menu could complicate matters further. Not every option is visible immediately; you usually have to click on “Show More Options” to reveal the old context menu. This can be particularly frustrating when handling several files and needing quick access to multiple selections.
One alternative is to press the Shift key while right-clicking, but this might be cumbersome to remember compared to simply reverting to the conventional menu.
For instance, in this screenshot, I attempted to extract an archive with 7-zip but had to navigate through two menus. Let’s address that problem.
How to Restore the Classic Context Menu in Windows 11 File Explorer
1. Access the Windows Registry Editor by pressing Win + R, typing “regedit” (without quotes), and pressing Enter. You can also locate the Registry Editor by searching for it in the Start Menu.
2. In the Registry Editor, click through to the following path by copying and pasting it into the address bar:
3. Once you arrive, right-click in the right pane and select “New > Key.”
4. Name the newly created key as follows:
{86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}
Note: Be sure to include the curly braces.
5. Click on the key you just created, then right-click in the right pane again and opt for “New > Key.” Change the name of this new key to “InprocServer32” (without quotes). Initially, it might show “value not set.” Simply opening and closing it will reset the value to empty (as demonstrated in the screenshot below).
6. Now, reboot your computer or launch Task Manager, right-click on Windows Explorer, and select Restart. After doing this, open File Explorer, right-click anywhere, and the classic context menu should now appear.
If you desire to return to the new menu, just delete the key you created in Step 5.
A Basic Method for Beginners
If you’re feeling daunted and think, “I’m not very tech-savvy; this seems too challenging,” don’t fret! Here’s a straightforward method to turn off the new context menu.
I’ve prepared registry files for you to download, so you won’t need to create them yourself. Download this ZIP file and extract it: Windows 11 Classic Context Menu Registry.
1. Open Notepad and enter the following code:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareClassesCLSID{86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}InprocServer32]
@=””
2. Save this file with a .reg extension, such as: Restore the old context menu.reg.
3. Open the file, and when prompted by User Account Control (UAC), click Allow to enable the Registry Editor to modify the system.
4. In the ensuing dialog, click Yes. This will automatically create the required registry key for you.
After this, restart your computer or exit and relaunch Windows Explorer via Task Manager to observe the changes.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
Image Source: NicoElNino / Shutterstock
