How to add apps to the right-click menu on Windows 10
An app that is likely to be used often will automatically add itself to the right-click context so that it’s easier to use. Dropbox is one good example. When you install the app, it adds an option to the context menu that lets you upload files to Dropbox. 7zip does the same but for zipping and extracting files. Loads of apps do but for the ones that don’t, you can add them yourself. Here’s how you can add apps to the right-click menu on Windows 10.
You will need to edit the Windows registry to do this so that means you need admin rights.
Edit right-click menu
Open the registry editor and go to the following location;
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shell
Right-click the Shell key, and from the context menu, select New>Key. Give this key the same name as the app that you want to add to the context menu. If you’re adding Notepad, name it Notepad. Under this key, you need to add another key called command.
Next, open File Explorer and navigate to the app’s EXE. You need to get the full path to the EXE file for the app you’re adding to the right-click menu.
Once you have the path, return to the registry editor and select the command key you just created. Double-click the Default value under it and enter the path to the app’s EXE. That ought to do the trick.
Right-click anywhere, on a file or a folder, or an empty part of the desktop. Regardless of where you right-click, the menu will always show the app that you just added.
Limitations
This option will only allow you to add a shortcut to the app’s EXE to the right-click menu. If you want the app to perform a function, you will run into several obstacles. For one, the app must support the ability to add the feature to the context menu. Second, you need to know how to write the right bit of code needed to call the feature.
There are apps that make it easier to add or remove apps from the right-click menu however, there aren’t any apps that let you add a specific app feature/function to the context menu. This is because, while adding an app to the right-click menu follows a few basic, and standard steps, adding a function from app to the context menu is far more complicated and varies from one app to the other.
If you decide to try your hand at adding a feature, make sure you back up the Windows registry.
