Screenshot: Khamosh Pathak
The right-click menu has a legacy of its own. It had not changed in more two decades. And for good reason: it showed a simple list of relevant actions. But Windows 11 changed that. It now has a panel of buttons at top with no labels, then your usual actions below. A new button that says “Show All Actions” opens the old context menu.
If you want the old context menu back that shows all actions together, go to Start > Registry Editor and enter the following address at the top:
Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\CLASSES\CLSID\
Right-click in the empty area and choose New > Key. Here, paste the following as the key value:
{86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}
Now, right-click on the code value we just created and select New > Key. Name the new key “InprocServer32".
Double-click the “(Default)” key in the InprocServer32 folder to open it. Then close it without making any changes by clicking the “OK” button. This will add a blank value for the entry. Close the Registry Editor and restart your PC.
When you reboot, the classic right-click menu will be back again.
