Take Control of your Windows “Right-Click” Menu

This guide will show you how to add a bunch of helpful functionality to your Windows “right-click” menu.

Note: even though this guide was initially published back in 2008, it has been updated to be current in 2021 with support for Windows 10 etc.

By installing a small app named FileMenu Tools you can add a bunch of extra features to the “right-click” menu (also called the “Context Menu”) – such as “move to” and “copy to” – so you don’t have to cut/copy-paste or drag and drop files to move them.

FileMenu Tools is free, but you’ll need to fork over a bit of cash to unlock the ability to add custom commands or to use the tool on an unlimited number of files/folders (the free license only lets you use the context menu commands with up 20 files/folders). Give the free version a spin and if you notice that you need the extra features, (approx) $12 USD is small price to pay for a lot of time saved.

Here’s how to setup and use FileMenu Tools –

1. Head over to the download page for FileMenu Tools and download the latest version. The installation is very straightforward – you’ll mostly just click “Next” a bunch of times. At the end of the installation, make sure to place a check in the box labeled Configure FileMenu Tools now
2. This will bring up a window with several panels and a lot of items with check-boxes next to them. Minimize this window for a moment.
3. Open a File Explorer window and right-click somewhere in the background. In your “right-click” menu you’ll see a new item – FileMenu Tools. Move your cursor over that new entry and you’ll see a slew of new options.
4. Bring the FileMenu Tools configuration screen back up. Take a look through the list and see what interests you. If you aren’t sure what an item is, select it and a brief description is displayed in the Information panel.
5. Go through the list and remove the check-marks from the items you don’t want or need (you can always make changes later).
6. Click the green “check mark” (Apply) button located towards the upper-left corner of the window.
7. Now right-click somewhere in a File Explorer window again. This time, only the items you left selected will be displayed.
8. Another helpful feature in FileMenu Tools is the ability to edit the Send To part of your right-click menu. Select the “Send To…” Menu tab and from there you can remove the check-mark from the items you don’t need (ah-hem Fax Recipient).
9. Now your Send To menu is a bit more tidy.
10. If you want to boost your Windows right-click menu even more, you can edit the items found in the “New” part of the context menu as well, and we’ll show you how.