{"id":26885,"date":"2023-01-07T10:22:53","date_gmt":"2023-01-07T09:22:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/?p=26885"},"modified":"2023-01-07T13:48:55","modified_gmt":"2023-01-07T12:48:55","slug":"windows-remove-entry-from-explorer-context-menu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/en\/26885\/windows-remove-entry-from-explorer-context-menu\/","title":{"rendered":"Windows: Remove entry from Explorer context menu"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Remove entries from the Explorer context menu.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Ideally, programs remove all their traces from the system when they are uninstalled. Unfortunately, this is not always the case, as I have now discovered with the editor &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/kate-editor.org\/de\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kate<\/a>&#8220;. So I was left with the entry &#8220;Edit with Kate&#8221; in the context menu.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/explorer_context_en_1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"579\" height=\"314\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-26886\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/explorer_context_en_1.png 579w, https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/explorer_context_en_1-300x163.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 579px) 100vw, 579px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The easiest option is to just ignore the thing, but I&#8217;m bothered by things like this. How do we get rid of the thing?<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of content<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/en\/26885\/windows-remove-entry-from-explorer-context-menu\/#Video\" >Video<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/en\/26885\/windows-remove-entry-from-explorer-context-menu\/#Remove_via_the_registry\" >Remove via the registry<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/en\/26885\/windows-remove-entry-from-explorer-context-menu\/#Remove_with_ShellMenuView\" >Remove with ShellMenuView<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Video\"><\/span>Video<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MYAbH1rcHRk\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Remove_via_the_registry\"><\/span>Remove via the registry<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Entries for the context menu are controlled via the registry. We start the registry editor with admin rights.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/explorer_context_en_2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"678\" height=\"437\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-26888\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/explorer_context_en_2.png 678w, https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/explorer_context_en_2-300x193.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 678px) 100vw, 678px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The entries for the context menu are located under &#8220;HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT&#8221;. Here we find the registered file extensions. We find the entries for the context menu in the &#8220;shell&#8221; subfolder for the respective file extension. This controls whether, for example, an entry is displayed for all or only for certain file extensions. Opening with Photoshop only makes sense for pictures. However, this also means that the entry may appear several times. <\/p>\n<p>The easiest way is to search for the entry. In our case, we search for the text of the menu, i.e. &#8220;Edit with Kate&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/explorer_context_en_3.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"398\" height=\"188\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-26890\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/explorer_context_en_3.png 398w, https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/explorer_context_en_3-300x142.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 398px) 100vw, 398px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The search quickly finds what we are looking for. In the registry key &#8220;*&#8221; we find &#8220;EditWithKate&#8221;. The asterisk in this case simply means that the menu entry is displayed for all file extensions, i.e. always. <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/explorer_context_en_4.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"566\" height=\"335\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-26892\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/explorer_context_en_4.png 566w, https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/explorer_context_en_4-300x178.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 566px) 100vw, 566px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>To remove the entry, we delete the subfolder &#8220;EditWithKate&#8221;. We should not remove the entire &#8220;shell&#8221; folder. The change is effective immediately, and the entry has disappeared from the context menu.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/explorer_context_en_5.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"547\" height=\"262\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-26894\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/explorer_context_en_5.png 547w, https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/explorer_context_en_5-300x144.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 547px) 100vw, 547px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Remove_with_ShellMenuView\"><\/span>Remove with ShellMenuView<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Searching via the registry is not always easy. The software &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nirsoft.net\/utils\/shell_menu_view.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ShellMenuView<\/a>&#8221; can help us here.<\/p>\n<p>After downloading the software, it only needs to be unpacked. We can then search for our entry in the list. The software offers the possibility to deactivate entries (Disable Selected Items). This is helpful because we can first test the effects without completely removing the entry.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, we can also call up the entry in the registry.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/explorer_context_en_6.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"570\" height=\"360\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-26896\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/explorer_context_en_6.png 570w, https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/explorer_context_en_6-300x189.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 570px) 100vw, 570px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>This opens the registry in the right place and we can remove the entry here as well.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/explorer_context_en_7.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"769\" height=\"249\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-26898\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/explorer_context_en_7.png 769w, https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/explorer_context_en_7-300x97.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 769px) 100vw, 769px\" \/><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Remove entries from the Explorer context menu.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14619,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1555],"tags":[1644,1558],"class_list":["post-26885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-software-en","tag-explorer-en","tag-windows-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26885\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}