How to Add “Take Ownership” Option to File or Folder Context Menu in Windows XP, Vista, 7 and Windows 8

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NOTE: This article has been featured by Microsoft. AskVG.com was the first website posting this unique trick.

Many times you need to take ownership of a file or folder in Windows. For example, when you want to customize Windows UI and need to replace existing system files with a new one.

You have to follow no. of steps to take ownership and grant yourself full permission to access the file or folder. But now you can do it in a single step.

You just need to download following zip file and extract it. You'll get a .REG file. Run the file and accept the confirmation:

Download Link

It'll add an extra option "Take ownership" in file and folder context menu:

Now you can right-click on any file or folder and select "Take ownership" option. It'll make you the owner of the file or folder and you can perform your desired operation on that file or folder.

NOTE: If you face problem while taking ownership of a file or folder using above method, you can try manual method which is mentioned in following article:

[Guide] How to Take Ownership (Permission) of a File or Folder Manually in Windows?

[Guide] How to Restore “TrustedInstaller” as Default Owner of a File or Folder in Windows?

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This article was posted by VG in following section: Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Vista, Windows XP.

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VG

^^ Simply open the REG file in Notepad and then you can replace the text within quotes to your desired one.
Alive

WHY DO YOU CHOOSE THE HARD WAY WHEN WINBUBBLE CAN DO THAT :?:
VG

^^ Because its always good to know how the things work. ;)
raoul

any idea why the option "take ownership" does not appear in my context menu after applying the registry tweak?
VG

^^ Try to run the REG file as Administrator by right-click on it and select "Run as Administrator".
Nikolaj

Ok please give me an restore file so i don't have both take ownership and tag ejerskab

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PS: i have a littel question "Can enyone with an english comp read this "æøåÆØÅ"
JoKeR

how i can change the explorer.exe if is used, and always need a permission 'cause is running
Jonathan

I have the same question as JoKeR.
Can you email me the answer?

"How can I change the explorer.exe because it is always in use, and I always need a permission?"
Jonathan

Help!
I took the ownership of shell32.dll, and now I can't give it back!!!
I renamed it to shell32_old, and now i can't restore it's proper name!
Help!
VG

^^ First rename the new "shell32.dll" file to some other name and then rename the "shell32_old" to "shell32.dll".

@JoKeR and Jonathan
First take ownership of "Explorer.exe". Then rename it to some other name. At last copy your new explorer.exe file in "Windows" folder. restart your system and now Windows will start using the new file.