In Windows, whenever we right-click on Desktop or in Windows Explorer, we get "New" menu which allows us to create new folder, new shortcut and new files using various known file types. It helps us in creating new files, folders and shortcuts easily and quickly.
Sometimes you may want to remove a few unwanted items from "New" menu to shrink its size or to restrict others from creating new files or shortcuts or you may want to add a few new items to "New" menu such as new file types, etc.
So today in this tutorial, we'll tell you how to add or remove items from "New" menu in Windows. This method will work in all Windows versions:
A. To Add an Item in "New" menu:
1. Type regedit in RUN dialog box and press Enter. It'll open Registry Editor. Now expand "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT" key.
2. Now look for the file type which you want to add in "New" menu, e.g. for adding MP3 file type look for .MP3 key.
3. Right-click on it and select "New -> Key" and give it name "ShellNew".
4. In right-side pane, right-click and select "New -> String Value". Give it name "NullFile" and press Enter.
5. That's it. You'll immediately get the file type entry in "New" menu.
B. To Remove an Item from "New" menu:
1. Type regedit in RUN dialog box and press Enter. Now expand "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT" key.
2. Now look for the file type which you want to remove from "New" menu, e.g. for removing MP3 file type look for .MP3 key.
3. Expand it and delete the "ShellNew" key.
4. That's it. The file type will be removed from "New" menu.
Feel free to ask any question or post your feedback in your comment...
Posted by: Vishal Gupta | Categories: Troubleshooting, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP
Himanshu
hello vishal!!!
well i noticed that when i right click on empty space on desktop and click on new i could see worpad,,,etc but when i open my drive for eg local disk d and then i clicked on an empty space and again pointed towards in new i could ony see new folder...nothing else....i am using vista home premium sp2 fully updated..:-(
jani
how to add .xlsx to the context menu
VG
^^ Did you try the above mentioned steps in following key:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.xlsx
Addy
Actually VG , when you create "NullFile" string , you have to SET ITS VALUE TO 1
Morrison
NOTE: At least for XP Pro, a restart is required for Windows to parse this reg value.
arul
Hey, thanks , it worked.... :)
DavidR
I find that for Windows 7 (Pro, 64-bit) a restart is needed for the new registry value to be picked up. But then it works fine. Great tip!
Ashker
Thanks a lot
Partha
Thanks..
sam
Nothing worked for me until I read this post by sfhbdfhb:
"Why some ext work with ShellNew and others don't.
HCR\.xyz
Default = xyzfile
HCR\.xyz\ShellNew
NullFile =
HCR\xyzfile
Default = XYZ Document
HCR\xyzfile\Shell\open\command
Default = SomeProg2OpenXYZ.exe "%1""
It was the first two lines that did it for me:
in regedit go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.txt, right click on default, change value to txtfile and VIOLA!
somehow the default value got changed to something else, that's why "create new text file" wasn't showing when i right-clicked.
busterman
Thanks for this tutorial , this was what i was looking for, now i can get rid of the nagging bmp file being created instead of using the short key for creating a folder Win Key+F, bmp shortcut was created by Faststone Image Viewer which i didn't want.
Thanks for this , keep up the good work.
Lee V.
I just downloaded Ruby for windows and was trying to add something to the "new" menu that would allow me to open a new Ruby program. I'm new to programming, so there's probably a simple solution, but I can't figure out what file to use (by your method) to add Ruby to the new context menu.
Scott
Hi, I wanted to add WordPad to the New menu but this doesn't work. Just to be clear I want to R-click the empty space in FileView of WE and get the New menu to show the option to create a new .rtf file like it does with Notepad.
The directions on this page say about adding Keys here:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\* (for adding an option in All files context menu)
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory (for adding an option in folders context menu only)
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive (for adding an option in Drives context menu only)
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Unknown (for adding an option in unknown files context menu)
I found the explanation lacking on that page, could just be me?
I tried adding the option to ROOT\Directory - this added an option to open a Folder with WordPad when it is R-clicked! Obviously I don't want this, but even though I deleted all reference to it, the option still appears in the context menu??? Can you tell me how to get rid of it and how to achieve the New .rtf option please.
Thanks
Win7HP64
Rahat khan
I can remove items from the list but i can't add new text file (*.txt) !!!
what to do ???????????
Joseph
It seems like the above instruction does not work with Windows 8. I tried for many times and none worked.
Any one tried with Windows 8? Please let me know your experiences.
Rai ta
@sam Yes! I finally got Word 2000 (almost) working
.doc: right click on default, change value to Word.Document.8
It creates the new doc-file but for some reason, when opened, Word starts import dialog????
(os W 7 64)
Moody Mason
I am using Windows Vista. Recently I notice there is no "New" in the right click context menu. How can I get it again?
VG
^^ Please check following:
http://www.askvg.com/how-to-restore-missing-new-menuitem-in-desktop-and-explorer-context-menu/
Jimmy Storm
Hai, I found out that if you want to temporary disable an item in 'new' list, you can 'comment out' the ShellNew key by renaming it to //ShellNew, or something like that.
Bert
I'm using windows 7 and can't get rid of the briefcase that shows up when i right click looking for a folder .. i've read many instructions on the net about going to regedit, expanding HKEY etc. where there are many abbreviations but there's no briefcase there to delete .. I've expanded all the B's and it's not there .. i found a site that said i could download "disable-newbriefcase.reg" and it would work but it was a speed test .. I could sure use some help .. thanks
VG
^^ Open regedit, go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT key. Expand it and go to Briefcase key. Under it, you'll find ShellNew key, delete it.
Surya
Hii
Hey ,I am using Windows 7 ,when I right click for new folder the options are changed , like there is option for bierfcase, MSword,
MS Access, Contact.........etc.
But No new folder create option , How to reset this new option to default...?
I tried the above ,options to delete and add, but I am not getting it ,Is there any way to get the default options.......
Thanks
Timothy
Hi I'm Tim and I had the dreaded no Folder event happen in the New context menu. My simple fix was to add the text in the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder Default data = Folder in the Registry file by using Regedit. I know it looks simple, but I spent a good 20 hours finding the answer instead of running any kind of fix I could find. If the Registry is blank in that data area, it won't secure a spot for Folder to show up in the New context menu.
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder]
@="Folder"
"EditFlags"=hex:d2,03,00,00
"FullDetails"="prop:System.PropGroup.Description;System.ItemNameDisplay;System.ItemType;System.Size"
"ThumbnailCutoff"=dword:00000000
"TileInfo"="prop:System.Title;System.PropGroup.Description;System.ItemType"
Just put the text Folder in the Default data area by right clicking on Default, click Modify, then type Folder in that spot.
Now stop worrying and get some sleep.
brit0n
Thanks for the explanation. I have one suggestion and one problem:
Suggestion: Include in the instructions that regedit needs to be opened with Administrator privileges. (That will save time opening regedit and then not being allowed to create a new key.
Problem: Windows 7 comes with New Bitmap image in the context menu just as previous versions of Windows did. If I'm taking a screenshot, having a new .jpg file to open in an editor and paste into is much more use. So I created the following:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.jpg\ShellNew with the string value NullFile with no value.
This puts New JPEG image on the New context menu. So far so good. If I open that in something like Paint, edit it and save it (as type jpg of course), the file size looks rather large for a .jpg file. So I opened it in Irfanview and got an immediate warning that it was a .bmp file with a .jpg extension. Of course Irfanview offers to change the file extension to .bmp and allows me to save it as a .jpg file. I checked the leader data at the start of the file and it has the BMP image start so Irfanview is right.
So what am I doing wrong? Or is this some weird Windows thing?
technospice
This process didn't work. There's also a tutorial over at techrepublic [techrepublic.com/article/techrepublic-tutorial-add-file-types-to-windows-new-command-menu/5034852] which I tried but it also didn't work. I am logged in as administrator, and followed the directions to a T, including restarting. Nothing works. I'm just trying to add MS Word and Wordpad to the New menu but none of these processes work. I've edited registry settings before to get rid of lingering uninstalled program entries so I am not totally ignorant of how the registry works, but for some reason this isn't working for me.
I have inspected some of the keys and values for programs that -are- in the New context menu. What I can say is that (for example) in the case of Powerpoint, there are the keys:
PersistentHandler
PowerPoint.Show.12
ShellEx
There is no "ShellNew" here, but there -is- such a key under the PowerPoint.Show.12 key, which contains strings:
(default) with a value of (value not set)
FileName with a value of pwrpnt12.pptx (which is the name of a pptx file located in C:\Windows\ShellNew)
In accordance with the instructions from the techrepublic tutorial I tried making a file in C:\Windows\ShellNew and setting a FileName value to that docx filename placed in the ShellNew folder under a ShellNew key in the docx extension registry entry, AS WELL AS one in a ShellNew under the Word.Document.12 key. I then restarted, but this was no more successful than the instructions under this tutorial. No "New" context menu entry was made.
Has something changed in Win7? Or is there software that will place new entries?
Jim Mooney
Didn't work for me either in win 7 and I did it Exactly. I'm using Python and want a .py entry. I'm pretty good at following instructions and spotting errors. I think windows pulled a snooker on us. I've tried everything, five times.
redet
what is the PersistentHandler default value for .php file??