The right-click context menu in Windows is an integral part of the operating system, providing us with access to specific options and functions for files and folders.
However, over time, it can accumulate a large number of menu entries due to software installations and Shell extensions, resulting in a disorganized and inefficient menu, or even one that hangs.
And the truth is, often part of Windows’ “bad reputation” isn’t Windows’ fault, but rather developers who think it’s a good idea to add an option “somewhere” that you, basically, couldn’t care less about🥒.
Fortunately, we can view and edit the options in the Windows context menu with the help of two tools: ShellMenuEx and ShellExView.
These free applications from developer NirSoft allow us to view and manage the Shell extensions registered in the system, giving us control to optimize and adapt the menu to our needs.
How to Use ShellMenuView and ShellExView
Using these two tools is very simple. They are portable applications, so we just need to download and run them.
Generally, ShellMenuView is enough to customize most context menu options.
The user interface is very simple, in line with the rest of NirSoft’s applications. The program shows us a table with detailed information about each extension, including its name, location on disk, description, and more.
We simply need to find the context menu option that is bothering us and disable it. To do this, we select a specific extension and choose “Disable Selected Item”.
When disabling an extension, it is not removed from the system; it is simply temporarily deactivated. If you are very sure, you can delete it completely. But, well, I don’t recommend it, just in case you touch something you shouldn’t.
However, in some “special” cases, we might not find the context menu entries. In that case, we can use ShellExView to see if we can find it.
ShellExView provides us with a complete list of all the Shell extensions registered in the Windows operating system.
The interface is very similar, although you’ll see it displays many more entries, not just those from the context menu.
In any case, whether with ShellMenuView or ShellExView, the operation is the same. Find the darn entry that is messing things up and disable it.
This way, we can leave our context menu and Windows Explorer clean as a whistle, without all the addons that developers often include for us, without us asking for them at all.
In general, having our context menu clean will improve the use and performance of Windows. Good maintenance will prevent us from having to format so frequently. So, come on, let’s keep your Windows clean!
