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Can anyone recommend a gratis tool to reorder Windows context menu items (aka menuitems) in Windows 7?

Must be gratis (free of cost).

Portable and open-source are both preferred, but neither required.

I tried NirSoft's ShellExView, and although it's a great tool, it cannot reorder menu items.

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1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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To do so manually in the Registry:

  • Locate the context menu item in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID, e.g., fro Run as Administrator:

Run as Administrator Reg Key

  • You will likely need to take ownership to make any change to that key.
  • Add a DWORD value, flags.
  • Set the value to 0 to put it in the Rename section of the context menu.
  • Set the value to 1 to put it in the Send to section of the context menu.
  • Set the value to 2 to put it in the default position of the context menu.

See also Stack Overflow for more ways to change the display order.

N.B. Hacking the Registry, particularly where ownership must be taken, can be hazardous to your system.

Some of the links suggest alphabetical order applies within a section. For the Start menu, I've used punctuation and NBSP, char(160), to move items to the top of the list or bottom, but have not tried that for the Explorer context menu. Check an ASCII table, keeping in mind Windows may display some characters oddly or choke on others.

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  • Thank you for your answer Dr. Moishe. I'm real busy at the moment, and will have some time soon to take a closer look at what you wrote as well as the linked QA. It might be answered in the other QA, but is there a reliable way to reorder within a section? I'm very good with the Windows Registry, so working directly in it is no problem.
    – End Anti-Semitic Hate ♦
    Nov 2, 2020 at 21:13
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    @RockPaperLz-MaskitorCasket, see changes regarding alphabetical order. P.S. - Nice moniker: Mask It or Casket!
    – DrMoishe Pippik
    Nov 2, 2020 at 22:04
  • @RockPaperLz-MaskitorCasket did you get time to check this out? Is it an acceptable answer?
    – Mawg says reinstate Monica
    Jan 22, 2021 at 12:37
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    @MawgsaysreinstateMonica The info in the answer is all quite helpful and accurate (hence my upvote!). I'm hoping that someone will know of a software tool that automates the process to make it more time-efficient. I haven't personally found such a tool, but I'm hopeful there's one out there.
    – End Anti-Semitic Hate ♦
    Jan 22, 2021 at 23:36

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