In this note I will show how with one command to restore the full classic contextual menu in Windows 11 Explorer — without installing tweaks or any other “softwares”.
What changed in Windows 11
In the Windows 11 operating system, the design of File Explorer has undergone significant changes. Instead of the abundant menu available in Windows 10 Explorer, the default file manager now displays only a few icons at the top of the panel. The behavior when right-clicking has also changed: Windows 11 shows a simplified menu with a small set of options, and to get the classic contextual menu you have to select the item «Show more options». In fact, Windows 11 now has two Explorer contextual menus.
Most shortcuts for third-party programs are located precisely in the second, classic version of the contextual menu. Therefore, many Windows 11 users find it convenient to restore the classic contextual menu in Explorer: it contains the full set of available options, not just simplified actions.
Enable the classic menu
I propose a simple solution, without installing any tweaks or other unclear “softwares”.
Open Terminal as administrator:
Type the following command:
reg.exe add "HKCU\Software\Classes\CLSID\{86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}\InprocServer32" /f
And then restart Explorer:
taskkill /F /IM explorer.exe & start explorer
All set. Done!
If Explorer didn’t start by itself
If Explorer didn’t open automatically, open Task Manager (Ctrl+Alt+Del) and choose in the menu Run new task:
In the open dialog, type explorer:
That’s it — after restarting Explorer, the contextual menu is full again:
The article was first published on 28.08.2023 at openode.xyz; migrated and updated on 04.08.2026.