If you want really quick access to launch a frequently used
application without putting extra icons on your desktop, you can add
that application to the context menu for the desktop with a simple
registry hack. Here’s how to do it.
Naturally, we’ve also covered the opposite scenario—
how to disable Windows context menu, which is an equally useful read if you’ve got a bunch of items you want to remove from the menu.
Adding Applications to the Desktop Context Menu
For today’s lesson we’ll show you how to add Notepad to the menu,
but you could add any applications you want instead. The first thing
you’ll want to do is open up regedit.exe through the Start Menu search
or run box, and then browse down to the following key:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shell
The screen should look similar to this one if you are in the right place.
Next, you’ll want to create a new key underneath the shell key, the
name of which is exactly what is going to show up on the desktop menu.
Right-click on the “shell” key, and then choose New \ Key from the menu.
Give the new key the name that you want to show up on the desktop context menu. For this example we’ll be using Notepad.
Optional: If you want to assign an “Alt” key to this
menu entry for quicker access, you can change the (Default) value on
the right and put an & character in front of the key you want to
use. For instance, if you wanted to be able to just use the N key to
launch Notepad once the desktop context menu pops up, you can do this:
Personally I don’t find this terribly useful since you have to use
the mouse to right-click on the desktop… may as well just use the mouse
to click the item. Still, for completeness I’ve included it.
Next you’ll need to create the command key that will actually hold
the command used to launch the application. Right-click on the new
Notepad key, and then choose New \ Key from the menu.
Give this key the name “command” in lowercase.
To complete this step you’ll need the full path to the application that
you want to launch. You can use Shift + Right-Click to get the Copy as
Path menu item to find this more quickly.
Note: of course, for Notepad you wouldn’t need the full path, but this is just an example.
Now click on “command” on the left side, and then double-click on the (Default) key in the right side to edit the string value.
Paste in the full path to the executable that you got from the “Copy
as Path” step above, or you can put in the full path yourself if you’d
like.
Once it’s done, it should look like this:
And right-clicking on the desktop will produce the new menu item… naturally, using this menu item should launch Notepad.
You can add as many applications to the desktop context menu as you’d
like, just repeat the steps again with a new menu item name.
