How to Restore the Classic Right-Click Menu in Windows 11

Windows 11’s right-click menu has long been a point of criticism, and the “Show more options” button is downright unbearable. Aside from the pretty UI, this right-click menu is a nightmare for anyone who values efficiency (in short: all style, no substance).

Fortunately, there’s a simple way to restore the Windows 10-style right-click menu.

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Steps

Open Command Prompt (cmd):

• Press the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog, then type cmd.
• Press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open Command Prompt as an administrator.

In the Command Prompt, enter:

reg add "HKCU\Software\Classes\CLSID\{86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}\InprocServer32" /f /ve

Press Enter to run the command.

You’ll then need to restart File Explorer for the changes to take effect.

How to restart File Explorer:

• Right-click on the taskbar and select Task Manager.
• In the Task Manager, locate the File Explorer processes (there may be more than one). Click on them, then click Restart in the top-right corner of the Task Manager.

The desktop may briefly go black — just wait a moment for it to return.

After restarting File Explorer, the classic right-click menu will be restored.