Microsoft offers a redesigned context menu—also called the right-click menu—in Windows 11 that’s more modern-looking than the legacy right-click context menu from Windows 10.

However, this aesthetic appeal introduces an unwelcome change. The new context menu shows fewer options by default, so you need to click on Show More Options to expand and view the rest of the available options or press the Shift key to jump directly into the legacy context menu.

how to get the old context menu in windows 11

Thankfully, there are a couple of ways to avoid this hassle and permanently restore your Windows 11’s context menu to the legacy context menu. Let’s see how.

Method 1. Get the Old Context Menu in Windows 11 By Modifying the Windows Registry

A native way to get the classic context menu back in Windows 11 permanently is to edit and modify your computer’s Windows Registry. If you’ve edited your system’s Registry file before, you’ll feel right at home with this method.

  1. Press the Windows + R keyboard shortcut to bring up Run.
  2. Type in regedit and hit Enter.
    Searching Registry Editor in Run.
  3. When User Account Control prompts you to allow the app access to make changes to your device, hit Yes.
  4. In Registry Editor, click on the text box under the menu bar and copy and paste the below address:
    Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\CLSID
    Finding a registry hive in Windows Registry.
  5. With CLSID selected in the left sidebar, right-click in the blank area in the right pane and select New > Key.
    Creating a new key in Registry Editor.
  6. Copy the below string as the key name:
    {86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}
    Adding a key in Registry Editor in Windows 11.
  7. Right-click the key you just created in the sidebar and select New > Key.
    Setting up a subkey for restoring old context menu in Windows 11.
  8. Name it InprocServer32.
    Naming a subkey in Registry Editor.
  9. Double-click the Default key under the InprocServer32 subkey to open it and click OK to leave the data value blank.
    Setting up the value for a key in Window's Registry Editor to get the old context menu in Windows 11.
  10. Close the Registry Editor and restart your PC.

After the reboot, when you log back in and right-click in the File Explorer or on the desktop, it’ll show you the legacy context menu.

At any point, if you feel like switching back to the new context menu, just undo the above steps. Go back to the Registry Editor and delete the key you just added. When asked to confirm deletion, hit Yes and reboot your computer for the changes to apply.

Method 2. Get the Old Context Menu in Windows 11 Using Winaero Tweaker

If you don’t feel confident editing your system’s Registry file, you can use a one-click tool instead to restore the classic context menu on your Windows 11 PC.

While many tools can do this, we’ll be using Winaero Tweaker. It’s a popular Registry tweaker that does the necessary registry modification on your behalf to help you modify UI elements, including tweaking the context menu, which Microsoft doesn’t allow otherwise. And the best part is that Winaero Tweaker is updated frequently, so any bugs or other issues that crop up are ironed out quickly.

Start by downloading Winaero Tweaker on your Windows 11 PC from the link below.

Download Winaero Tweaker

Then, unzip the downloaded file into a new folder. From here, double-click the Winaero Tweaker executable (.exe file). Hit Run to run the installer, and click Yes on the User Account Control window to proceed.

Click Next and set the Setup Type to Normal Mode. Accept the user agreement and hit Next. Click Next for the rest of the on-screen prompts, keeping the default values. Hit the Install button on the final window to finish installing Winaero Tweaker on your PC.

Once Winaero Tweaker is installed, here’s how to use it:

  1. Launch the Winaero Tweaker app.
  2. Hit the I Agree button to agree to the license terms.
    Agreeing to Winaero Tweaker's license agreement.
  3. Click Yes on the User Account Control window.
  4. In the Winaero Tweaker, click on Classic Full Context Menus under Windows 11 in the left sidebar. If you don’t see the option, click on Windows 11 to expand the menu.
    Full context menu option in Winaero Tweaker.
  5. Check off the checkbox next to Enable Classic Full Context Menus in the right pane.
    Enabling classic full context menu in Winaero Tweaker.
  6. Winaero Tweaker will pop up an alert at the bottom telling you that you need to restart File Explorer for the changes to take effect. Click on Restart Explorer to have the app do it for you. Or, click on I’ll Do It Myself Later, and then close the File Explorer app from the Task Manager (using the Ctrl + Shift + Esc shortcut).

If you want to revert to the Windows 11 context menu on your PC again, you can do it from the Winaero Tweaker app itself. Just uncheck the Enable Classic Full Context Menus option and restart File Explorer.

Disabling the classic full context menu option in Winaero Tweaker.

Personalize Windows 11’s Context Menu to Make It More Useful

With the legacy right-click menu permanently restored on your Windows 11 PC, you should now feel at home. Of course, the old context menu isn’t perfect either, and it can sometimes show options you wouldn’t care about. Customizing the menu can help you fix it. Winaero’s Context Menu Tuner, ShellMenuView, and Easy Context Menu, and are some of the popular context menu editors for Windows that you can use to clean up your system’s context menu and populate it with more useful options that you actually use more regularly.

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