Add Application To Windows Desktop Rightclick Menu

Windows has several options to quickly access any application. You can create desktop shortcut for the application, pin the shortcut to the taskbar etc. Even you can create separate run commands for your frequently used applications. Right-click context menu is another feature in Windows which helps you to move easily in the windows system.

This guide is for those who love to use the right-click context menu so frequently. Launch any application from the right-click context menu in desktop. This tutorial tells how to add any application to the context menu using a simply registry hack.

Before you start editing the registry of your Windows system, keep a backup of the registry file, so that you can easily recover from any disaster.

Once you backed up the registry, follow the step-by-step guide to add an application to the right-click context menu.

Step #1. Run regedit command from the Windows run command box to open registry editor.

Alternatively, you can open registry editor by typing regedit at the Windows 7 start menu search box and then hit the Enter key from the keyboard.

Step #2. Now locate the following by traversing from the left-side of the registry windows.

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTDirectoryBackgroundshell

Step #3. Right-click on shell and and select New > Key to create a new key under it. Give the name of that key as the same of your application. We are taking VLC as the example. So the new key has been named as VLC.

Step #4. Similarly, create another key under the newly created key (VLC). Give the name as command.

Step #5. Once you named the key as command, keep it selected and you will find there is already an string value Default at the right pane. Double-click on it. A pop-up box appears where you have to put the path of the application file (exe) you want to execute.

Note: In the Value data field, you should put the path of the executing file encapsulated with double quotes.

You are done!! Now right-click at any where in the desktop. You should see the application name that you’ve added (here VLC) has been included to the context menu.

After reading this tutorial, you can easily add any application to the right-click context menu to lunch them easily and quickly. This trick is very helpful if you use so many portable applications in Windows. Applying this method, you won’t have to go through the folder containing the application files each time you want to launch them.