Re-enabling an extension removes that registry entry, restoring the original state. It reads shell extension data from the Windows registry and displays it. This is faster when you have many third-party extensions to test. The first thing most users do is hide built-in Windows extensions. This is the fastest way to group extensions by company or type. On a typical Windows 10\/11 machine, you will see 200 to 400 registered shell extensions.<\/p>\n
A lightweight Windows tool from NirSoft that reveals every shell extension on your PC and lets you control them one by one.<\/p>\n
Some antivirus programs flag NirSoft tools as \u201cpotentially unwanted\u201d because of their system-level capabilities (reading passwords, registry keys, etc.). The program does not modify system files, install drivers, or phone home to any server. On first launch, ShellExView automatically scans your system and populates the list. Administrator privileges are required on Windows Vista and later because ShellExView needs to read and write registry keys in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE hive. If you are not sure which architecture you have, press Win + Pause and check the \u201cSystem type\u201d line \u2014 it will say either \u201c64-bit operating system\u201d or \u201c32-bit operating system.\u201d<\/p>\n
If the menu appears instantly but just has too many items, use ShellMenuView to trim the static entries. These are lightweight entries like \u201cOpen with Notepad++\u201d or \u201cEdit with VS Code.\u201d They rarely cause problems but can clutter the menu. These are the more complex (and more problematic) type of context menu handler. Removing that registry value (which is what F8 does) fully restores the extension to its original state. Disabled extensions are not deleted or modified in any way. Search for that DLL filename in ShellExView to find the exact extension responsible.<\/p>\n
ShellExView manages dynamic shell extensions \u2014 DLL files registered as COM objects that inject code into Explorer at runtime. Both tools are made by NirSoft and both deal with the right-click context menu, but they target different types of menu entries. This re-enables every extension in the list, including ones that were already enabled (pressing F8 on an enabled extension does nothing, so it is safe). If you change your mind, open ShellExView again, find the disabled entry (it will show \u201cYes\u201d in the Disabled column), select it, and press F8 to re-enable it. The 64-bit version of ShellExView shows both types in a single list, so it gives you the most complete picture. However, some older applications install 32-bit extensions that run under the WoW64 compatibility layer.<\/p>\n
Some context menu entries are static (simple registry-based entries). Note that ShellExView manages dynamic context menu extensions (DLLs). Use the 32-bit version only if you are running a 32-bit copy of Windows (increasingly rare) or if you specifically need to troubleshoot 32-bit shell extensions in isolation on a 64-bit system.<\/p>\n