Windows 11 File Explorer Fixes

Windows 11 simplified File Explorer and hid some everyday options, including the full right-click menu and the old command bar. Here's how to bring the full menu back, plus a quick shortcut if you only need it now and then.

Bring back the full right-click menu

In Windows 11 the right-click menu in File Explorer is much shorter. Cut, copy, rename, share and delete are icons along the top, and everything else, including Edit and options added by other programs, is under Show more options. This change brings back the classic menu every time.

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

Command Prompt: adds the setting for your user account. No administrator rights are needed.

New-Item -Path "HKCU:\Software\Classes\CLSID\{86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}\InprocServer32" -Value "" -Force

PowerShell: does the same thing.

taskkill /f /im explorer.exe & start explorer.exe

Command Prompt: restarts File Explorer so the change takes effect. You can also sign out or restart the computer.

Go back to the Windows 11 menu

To undo the change, delete the setting and restart File Explorer again.

reg.exe delete "HKCU\Software\Classes\CLSID\{86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}" /f

Command Prompt: removes the setting and brings back the new Windows 11 menu.

The quick way: no changes needed

If you only need the full menu now and then, hold Shift while you right-click a file or folder, or select it and press Shift + F10. The classic menu opens straight away.

The old File Explorer command bar

File Explorer's ribbon of tabbed menus was replaced with a simpler command bar, with options such as Map network drive moved into the ··· menu. This setting brought back the old ribbon:

reg.exe add "HKCU\Software\Classes\CLSID\{d93ed569-3b3e-4bff-8355-3c44f6a52bb5}\InprocServer32" /f /ve

Command Prompt: restart File Explorer afterwards. Undo it with reg.exe delete, as above, using this CLSID.

This only works on early versions of Windows 11. Microsoft removed the old ribbon in later updates, so on current versions this setting has no effect.