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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallWindows 11 offers two ways to change what appears when you right-click a file or folder. The built-in route is the Show more options command, which brings back older Windows 10 entries. The free route is Nilesoft Shell, a context-menu customizer that lets you add, change, group, and remove entries in File Explorer. Shell goes much further than the built-in option, but it works through a plain-text configuration file rather than a point-and-click editor.
What the Windows 11 right-click menu already does
Windows 11 uses a streamlined File Explorer context menu. It shows common actions such as Cut, Copy, Paste, Rename, Share, and Delete. Microsoft’s support page for File Explorer describes the trade-off directly: “Not all extensions from Windows 10 will be available in the streamlined Windows 11 context menu, but they’ll always be available when selecting Show more options.” (Microsoft Support: File Explorer in Windows)
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In practice, that means entries from older or third-party software may be hidden until you ask for them. The built-in option is the fastest way to reach them without installing anything.
Reaching older entries with Show more options
- In File Explorer, right-click a file or folder.
- Select Show more options at the bottom of the streamlined menu.
- The older Windows 10 style menu opens, including extensions the streamlined menu leaves out.
This does not remove or reorder anything. It only exposes the full set of entries each time you use it, so it is a workaround rather than a customization.
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What Nilesoft Shell is
Nilesoft describes Shell as a context-menu customizer that lets you hand-pick the items that appear in the Windows File Explorer context menu, create custom commands for web pages, files, and folders, and launch applications directly from the menu. It can also modify or remove entries that Windows or third-party software adds. The vendor’s overview is on the Nilesoft Shell home page.
Where Shell applies
The vendor’s introduction lists four contexts where menus can be changed:
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- Files
- Folders
- The desktop
- The taskbar
The taskbar support is the least common of these, and it is a useful way to add shortcuts to frequently used tools and folders. The full introduction is on the Nilesoft documentation page.
How configuration works
Shell reads its settings from a plain-text file named shell.nss. You define menu items, groups, and nested submenus in that file, and Shell applies them to the context menu. This is the core trade-off of the tool: the editing is text-based, so it suits readers who are comfortable changing a configuration file and checking the result, but it is not a graphical menu editor.
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Features the vendor documents
- Adding, modifying, and removing existing menu entries
- Adding submenu items and nested menus
- Customizing appearance with colors, glyphs, SVG images, embedded icons, or image files
- Dynamic search and filtering of menu entries
These are the vendor’s descriptions of the software. They are not independently verified results.
Getting Shell and what it costs
The vendor’s download page lists Shell version 1.9.18 as of October 8, 2026, the date it was checked for this article. Version numbers and package availability change, so confirm the current release on that page before installing.
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| Option | What the download page lists |
|---|---|
| Installers | x64, x86, and ARM64 versions |
| Portable build | x64 build |
| Package managers | WinGet, Scoop, and Chocolatey commands, copied from the download page |
| Licence | Free for personal and commercial use, according to the vendor |
Built-in option or Shell?
The two routes solve different problems. The built-in option answers the question of how to get the older menu back. Shell answers the question of how to change the menu itself.
| Factor | Show more options (built in) | Nilesoft Shell |
|---|---|---|
| Extra software needed | No | Yes, a free download from the vendor |
| Setup effort | None beyond selecting the command | Install, then write or edit shell.nss |
| Can add or remove entries | Not stated by Microsoft for this command | Yes, according to the vendor |
| Can change appearance | Not stated by Microsoft for this command | Yes, colors, glyphs, SVG, embedded icons, or image files, according to the vendor |
| Configuration format | None | Plain text |
| Best fit | Readers who want older entries back with no changes | Readers who want a tailored menu and are comfortable editing text |
A real-world example from a user report
A first-person article by a user named aum, dated October 19, 2025 and mirrored on Nsane Forums, walks through a personal setup. The changes it describes include:
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- Removing the “Edit with Photos” entry
- Adding routes to frequently used locations
- Changing the icon shown for WinRAR
- Adding taskbar menus and shortcuts to tools and folders
These are the author’s own experiences. The article does not present independent test results, and its comments on speed, stability, and usefulness reflect one person’s setup.
Where PowerToys fits
Microsoft PowerToys is a neighbouring tool, not a replacement for a context-menu customizer. Among its utilities, File Locksmith shows which processes are using a file, and Image Resizer resizes images from the Explorer right-click menu. Both are documented on the Microsoft Learn PowerToys page. Neither is documented as a general way to edit the full menu, so PowerToys is best treated as a separate set of tools.
Limits to know before you start
- Configuration is text-based. Expect to read and edit
shell.nss, and mistakes in that file will show up as menu problems. - The vendor documents support for Windows 11 in general terms. Compatibility with every Windows 11 build is not established by the sources cited here.
- Shell can modify or remove entries added by third-party software, but this article does not establish that every third-party entry can be changed cleanly.
- No independent benchmark or third-party security audit of Shell is cited here. Performance and safety claims come from the vendor or from the user report above.
- The version and package details reflect the download page as checked on October 8, 2026. Confirm them before installing.
For most readers, the built-in Show more options command is enough to recover older entries. Shell is the choice when you want to decide what the menu contains, and you are willing to maintain a short text file to do it.
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