HACK YOUR RIGHT-CLICK MENU & FILE EXPLORER
Add new options to your right-click menu
The context menu that opens when you right-click a file or your desktop lets you perform common Windows tasks quickly, but its default options are pretty limited. You can use Winaero Tweaker to add more useful functions to the menu. Here are the best ones to enable via the Context Menu section.
App for ‘Edit’ Image Context Menu
By default, right-clicking an image file and choosing Edit opens it in Microsoft Paint. This option lets you set your preferred image editor instead. Click ‘Browse’ and navigate to C:\program Files to select the EXE file for the relevant program.
Microsoft may be phasing out the Control Panel in favour of the Settings app, but many advanced options are still available only in the former. This tweak lets you directly access the Control Panel by right-clicking your desktop, then choosing from three view options: Category, ‘Large icons’ and All Tasks.
Kill Not Responding Tasks
Don’t waste your time waiting for programs that have frozen to close themselves. Add this handy option to your desktop’s context menu to kill troublesome programs instantly, without needing to go through Task Manager.
SFC /Scannow
SFC (System File Checker) is a built-in Windows tool that scans and repairs corrupted system files, but by default it can be accessed only through Command Prompt or Powershell. This tweak lets you run SFC simply by right-clicking your desktop and choosing ‘Run SFC / Scannow’.
When you attach a hard drive that you’ve salvaged from one of your old PCS, you may find Windows displays a permissions error and refuses to let you access the files on it. This right-click option lets you gain access by taking ownership of specific files or entire folders.
If you’re not keen on disabling Windows Update (see our tip on page 51), this tweak gives you easier access to its various settings. Right-click your desktop and choose an option from the Windows Update sub-menu – including an option to temporarily pause updates via ‘Advanced options’ (see screenshot above).
Remove entries from your right-click menu
Adding all those new entries to your context menu can make it cluttered and awkward to use, so make room by removing the default options you don’t need. Click Remove Default Entries in the Context Menu section and select all the items you want to get rid of. These will include ‘Pin to Start’, ‘Cast to Device’, ‘Edit with Paint 3D’, ‘Rotate Left/right’, ‘Include in library’ and Bitlocker-related entries – click the question-mark button next to an item if you’re unsure what it does (see screenshot below). Essential options such as ‘Send to’, Delete and Copy aren’t listed, so you won’t remove them accidentally.