How to Bring Back the Old Context Menu in Windows 11

Hold your keyboard's shift key as you right-click to see the old context menus

By
Jeremy Laukkonen
Jeremy Laukkonen
Jeremy Laukkonen
Writer
  • Shoreline Community College
Jeremy Laukkonen is automotive and tech writer for numerous major trade publications. When not researching and testing computers, game consoles or smartphones, he stays up-to-date on the myriad complex systems that power battery electric vehicles .
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Published on March 6, 2024

What to Know

  • Press shift + right-click to access the old context menu. 
  • You can also open the new context menu, then click show more options. 
  • You can permanently disable the new context menu in the Registry.

This article explains how to bring back the old context menu in Windows 11 and restore the classic right-click functionality from earlier versions of Windows.

How to Access the Old Context Menus in Windows 11

If you’re having trouble with the new context menus in Windows 11, you can access the old ones in two different ways.

The easiest way to access the old context menus in Windows 11 is to press shift + right-click instead of just right-clicking. When you press shift + right-click, the old context menu will open instead of the new one. This works throughout Windows 11, so you can use it on the desktop, file folders, files, and other places where you used to access the old context menus in the past.

The old Windows 11 context menu accessed with shift + right click.

The other way to access to old context menus is to go through the new context menu:

  1. Right-click the desktop, a file, or anything that provides the new context menu.

    A file highlighted on the Windows 11 desktop.

  2. Click show more options.

    Show more options highlighted in the new Windows 11 context menu.

  3. The old context menu will appear.

    The old Windows 11 context menu.

How to Disable the New Context Menus in Windows 11

Since the old context menus are still accessible, altering the Windows Registry to prevent the new context menus from appearing will cause the old ones to appear instead. There are several ways to accomplish this, but they all essentially break the new context menus and prevent them from appearing. This procedure isn’t recommended because it can have unwanted consequences, but Microsoft doesn’t provide any official alternative.

Editing the Windows Registry can have serious, unwanted consequences if you do something wrong or miss a step, and the following instructions may not work on all systems. Additionally, a future Windows update could render you unable to access context menus. Back up your Windows Registry and consider also creating a full backup of your computer before attempting to edit the Registry before you make any changes.

Here’s how to bring back the old Windows 11 context menus with a Registry edit:

  1. Click Search, type regedit, and click Registry Editor.

    The Registry Editor search result highlighted in Windows 11 search.

  2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\CLASSES\CLSID.

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\CLASSES\CLSID highlighted in Windows 11 Registry Editor.

  3. Right click CLSID > New > Key.

    Key highlighted in Windows 11 Registry Editor.

  4. Name the key {86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2} and press Enter.

    {86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2} highlighted in Windows 11 Registry Editor.

  5. Right click {86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2} > New > Key.

    Key highlighted in Windows 11 Registry Editor.

  6. Name the key InprocServer32, and press Enter.

    InprocServer32 highlighted in Windows 11 Registry Editor.

  7. Select InprocServer32 and click (Default).

    InprocServer32 and Default highlighted in Windows 11 Registry Editor.

  8. Set Value name to default and click the value field, but don't type anything, then click OK.

    Value date (blank field) and OK highlighted in Windows 11 Registry Editor.

    Even though it may look like this step isn't doing anything, there's a difference between a newly generated key and one intentionally set to blank. If you skip this step, the procedure won't work.

  9. Restart your computer.

What Happened to the Old Context Menus in Windows 11?

The old context menus were replaced by new ones designed to be easier to use. When you first open the menu, the most commonly used options are placed close to your mouse's location.

The new menus work similarly to the old menus and provide similar functionality, but they make heavier use of icons instead of words, and there are some differences in functionality.

The context menu redesign is intended to reduce clutter and make the menus easier to use, but that isn’t always the case. Some apps don’t support the new context menus, so the basic functionality you’re looking for will be absent from the menu, and you will have to select 'show more options' to access the old-style menu.

If an app you use frequently doesn’t support the new context menus, you can contact the developer and ask them to add support or get into the habit of pressing shift + right-click instead.

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