How to Restore or Enable Classic Context Menu in Windows 11 (All Versions)

Windows 11 comes with a new redesigned context menu (right-click menu) which has been developed using acrylic material design (part of new fluent design UI). The new context menu now features translucent blur and glass transparency effects along with new rounded corners. The new context menu is also referred as modern or immersive context menu.

Context menu appears when you right-click somewhere such as on Desktop, on a selected item, inside Windows Explorer, etc.

If you don’t like the new context menu and want to bring back Windows 10 style old context menu in Windows 11, this article will help you.

New Redesigned Right-Click Context Menu in Windows 11

The new revamped context menu in Windows 11 operating system is shown in following screenshot:

The new context menu is different than the classic context menu present in previous Windows versions such as Windows 10. It automatically hides options added by 3rd party software programs to make itself compact. To access the full context menu, you need to click on “Show more options” link present at the bottom of the new context menu. You can also press Shift+F10 keys together to direct access old context menu.

So basically now there are 2 context menus present in Windows 11: First the new context menu which appears by default when you right-click and second the legacy old context menu which appears when you click on “Show more options” link. Microsoft hasn’t provided any built-in option or setting to enable/disable new context menu. Users are forced to use the new context menu.

Problems in New Context Menu in Windows 11

Although the new context menu in Windows 11 looks nice and comes with improvements but there are some problems and issues in the new context menu which might annoy the end user.

First issue is the size of new context menu. It’s larger than old context menu and covers lots of screen area.

It automatically hides all 3rd party programs options. If you need to use those extra options frequently (such as 7-Zip, WinRAR options to compress/extract files), you need to perform some extra mouse clicks. First right-click to get the new context menu and then click on “Show more options” link to get old classic menu and then select those 3rd party program options. If you need to do this regularly, it might become irritating.

The worst part! I noticed that the new context menu doesn’t display “Refresh” option when we right-click inside File Explorer or This PC window.

Also there is a bug in the new context menu. If you use custom display scaling such as 125%, the new context menu might start showing a very annoying scrollbar which can cause crashing issues as mentioned in following article:

[Bug] Scrollbar in Context Menu Crashes Windows 11 Explorer

So you see there are many issues and limitations in new context menu which might not please the end users.

Restore Old Classic Windows 10 Context Menu in Windows 11

Fortunately there is a hidden Registry tweak to disable the new context menu and restore classic context menu in Windows 11. Once you apply this tweak, it’ll force Windows 11 to always show full Windows 10 style classic context menu instead of new context menu whenever you right-click on Desktop or inside Explorer. So you’ll no longer need to click multiple times to get all context menu options.

Following animated image shows old classic context menu restored and working again in Windows 11:

Following image shows a comparison of the default modern context menu and old context menu restored on Desktop in Windows 11:

Similarly following image shows a comparison of new context menu and old context menu in Windows 11 Explorer:

If you also want to force Windows 11 to always show full context menu without hiding 3rd party program options, the methods given below will help you.

There are multiple ways to implement the Registry tweak. You can try any of the following methods according to your requirements:

METHOD 1: Manually Using Registry Editor (for Pro Users)

This method is for expert and advanced users who have knowledge and experience of modifying registry in Windows operating system.

1. Press WIN+R keys together to launch RUN dialog box. Now type regedit in RUN box and press Enter. It’ll open Registry Editor.

2. Now go to following key:

3. Right-click on CLSID key and select New -> Key option. It’ll create a new key under CLSID key.

Set the new key name as following:

{86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}

4. Again right-click on {86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2} key and select New -> Key option. It’ll create a new key under {86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2} key.

Set the new key name as following:

InprocServer32

Close Registry Editor and either restart your computer or restart Explorer using any method given in this article to take effects.

After restart, you’ll get old Windows 10 style context menu in Windows 11.

PS: In future, if you decide to re-enable new context menu in Windows 11, delete the {86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2} key from Registry Editor.

METHOD 2: Automatically Using Ready-made Registry Script (for Basic Users)

This is the easiest way to apply required Registry tweak automatically. If you don’t want to modify registry yourself, download following ZIP file, extract it using 7-Zip or other file archive utilities and run the extracted .REG file:

Registry Script to Restore Old Classic Context Menu in Windows 11

The script file will ask for confirmation, accept it. Restart your computer or Explorer to take effects.

The ZIP file also contains UNDO file to restore default settings i.e. restore new context menu again.

METHOD 3: Using Direct Command Execution in Command Prompt

If you don’t have access to Registry Editor or don’t want to use Registry script, you can do the same task using Command Prompt. This method will apply the required Registry tweak via command-line.

1. Open Command Prompt as Administrator using a way mentioned here.

2. Now run following command in Command Prompt window:

You’ll get “The operation completed successfully” message in the result.

Restart your computer or Explorer to take effects.

PS: To re-enable new context menu in future, you can run following command:

Also Check:

[AIO] Ultimate Tutorial to Customize Desktop Context Menu in Windows

[Windows Tip] Remove Graphics Card Driver Options from Desktop Context Menu