With a fast registry hack, you may add an application to the context menu for the desktop if you want extremely rapid access to run a regularly used program without adding additional icons to your desktop. Here’s how to go about it.
Naturally, we’ve also covered the inverse case – how to clear up your cluttered Windows context menu, which is an equally valuable read if you’ve got a slew of items you’d like to get rid of from the menu.
This method is compatible with Windows Vista, 7, 8, 10, and 11. We don’t have an XP PC to test it on, but we suspect it won’t work.
Remember: This approach works on Windows 11, but because of changes to the right-click menu, you must select “Show More Options” to view the program you installed until you restore the old context menus in Windows 11.
ADDING APPLICATIONS TO THE DESKTOP CONTEXT MENU
We’ll teach you how to add Notepad to the menu in today’s session, but you may add any program you choose instead. The first step is to launch regedit.exe from the Start Menu search or run box, and then navigate to the following key:
If you’re at the proper spot, your screen should appear something like this.
Following that, you’ll want to add a new key beneath the shell key, the name of which will appear on the desktop menu. Right-click on the “shell” key and select New > Key from the menu that appears.
The name you want to see on the desktop context menu should be enter for the new key. Notepad will be used in this example.
To assign the “Alt” key to this menu option for faster access, alter the “(Default)” value on the right and type a & character in front of the key you wish to use. For example, if you want to be able to start Notepad with the N key after the desktop context menu appears, do the following:
Then, construct the command key, which will store the command used to run the application. Right-click on the new Notepad key and select New Key from the menu that appears.
In lowercase, label this key “command.”
You’ll need the whole path to the application you wish to run in order to finish this step. To discover this faster, press Shift + Right-Click to bring up the Copy as Path menu item.
