Remove Windows 10 Context Menu bloat

Martin Brinkmann
Jul 9, 2017
Windows, Windows 10
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16

Microsoft added new entries to the File Explorer context menu in Windows 10 that some users of the operating system may like, and others may call bloat.

If you right-click on files in the most recent release build of Windows 10, the Creators Update, you get up to three additional context menu items.

You may get "Edit with Paint 3D" to edit an image with the built-in Paint 3D application, a "Cast to Device" entry to cast the media file to another device, and the "Share" entry which opens the Share UI of Windows 10 when selected.

Windows 10 Insider systems feature an "Edit with Photos" entry on top of that. That's three edit options for images on Windows 10 in the context menu without any option to disable these entries.

Note: I recommend that you create a backup of the Registry before you make any changes to it. This allows you to restore the state before any editing. You can use a program like Erunt or RegBak for that, or with a right-click on any key (those on the left side) that is linked to adding, changing, or deleting values or entries, and selecting export.

Remove Windows 10 Context Menu bloat

Edit with Paint 3D

Paint 3D was included in the Windows 10 Creators Update. It is a modernized version of the classic Paint application that comes with a new UI, as an application, and ships with new features such as 3D functionality.

There is only one situation where the "Edit with Paint 3D" entry in the context menu makes sense: when you use a different default image editor for editing, but use Paint 3D sometimes for editing jobs. Even then it is possible to use "open with" instead to open the image in Paint 3D.

One issue that you will encounter when it comes to the removal of the context menu entry is that it is mapped to different file extensions, and that you need to remove Registry keys for each file extension individually to remove Paint 3D completely from the context menu.

To remove Edit with Paint 3D, do the following

delete edit with 3d paint

  • Tap on the Windows-key on the computer keyboard, type regedit.exe and tap on the Enter-key to open the Windows Registry Editor.
  • Confirm the UAC prompt.
  • Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\SystemFileAssociations\.bmp\Shell
  • Right-click on  3D Edit, and select Delete.
  • Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\SystemFileAssociations\.gif\Shell
  • Right-click on  3D Edit, and select Delete.
  • Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\SystemFileAssociations\.jpg\Shell
  • Right-click on  3D Edit, and select Delete.
  • Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\SystemFileAssociations\.jpeg\Shell
  • Right-click on  3D Edit, and select Delete.
  • Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\SystemFileAssociations\.png\Shell
  • Right-click on  3D Edit, and select Delete.
  • If you notice the "Edit with Paint 3D" entry next to any other image type, repeat the process outlined above for it. All you need to do is go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\SystemFileAssociations\, click on the image file type, then on Shell to delete the 3D Edit value.

Edit with Photos

Edit with Photos is a new context menu option that is not part of the Creators Update version of Windows 10. It shows up in the latest Windows 10 Insider Builds that showcase features that will likely be part of the Fall Creators Update out later this year.

If you don't use the Photos application to edit images on Windows 10, you may want to remove the entry from the File Explorer context menu.

To remove Edit with Photos, do the following

remove edit with photos

  • Tap on the Windows-key on the computer keyboard, type regedit.exe and tap on the Enter-key to open the Windows Registry Editor.
  • Confirm the UAC prompt.
  • Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AppX43hnxtbyyps62jhe9sqpdzxn1790zetc\Shell\ShellEdit
  • Right-click on ShellEdit, and select New > String value.
  • Name it ProgrammaticAccessOnly.

Cast to Device

If you don't use the casting functionality of Windows 10, you have no need for the Cast to Device entry in the File Explorer context menu.

Basically, what it allows you to do is stream media files to devices that support Miracast or DLNA.

To remove Cast to Device, do the following

remove cast to device windows 10

  1. Tap on the Windows-key on the computer keyboard, type regedit.exe and tap on the Enter-key to open the Windows Registry Editor.
  2. Confirm the UAC prompt.
  3. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Shell Extensions
  4. If there is no Blocked key under Shell Extensions, right-click on Shell Extensions and select New > Key. Name the key Blocked.
  5. Right-click on Blocked, and select New > String Value.
  6. Name it {7AD84985-87B4-4a16-BE58-8B72A5B390F7}
  7. Double-click on the newly created String value, and change the Value data field to Play to menu.
  8. The change takes effect when you log out and on, restart the PC, or restart the Windows Explorer process.

Tip: To restore the "Cast to Device" entry in the Windows 10 context menu, go to the Blocked key in the Registry, right-click on {7AD84985-87B4-4a16-BE58-8B72A5B390F7} and select delete from the menu that opens.

Share

Share may not be active on all systems by default. It is on by default in recent Windows 10 Insider Builds. You may use it to share files using the built-in Windows 10 share functionality.

To remove Share, do the following

remove share context menu

  • Tap on the Windows-key on the computer keyboard, type regedit.exe and tap on the Enter-key to open the Windows Registry Editor.
  • Confirm the UAC prompt.
  • Go to HKEY_Classes_ROOT\*\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\
  • Right-click on Modern Sharing, and select Delete from the context menu.

Software programs you may use for the task

If you don't like editing the Windows Registry, you may use free programs to remove some of the context menu entries as well.

ShellExView and ShellMenuView

shellexview

The portable Nirsoft applications list shell menu items. You may disable those so that they don't show up anymore.

WinAero Tweaker

winaero-tweaker remove default entries

The program is free to use, and can be used to remove "Edit with Paint 3D", and "Cast to Device" from the context menu. Check out our review of Winaero Tweaker here.

Now You: Spotted another entry that you want to remove? Let us know in the comments and we figure it out and let you know how to do it.

Summary
Remove Windows 10 Context Menu bloat
Article Name
Remove Windows 10 Context Menu bloat
Description
The guide provides you with instructions on removing context menu entries from File Explorer on machines running Windows 10.
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Ghacks Technology News
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Comments

  1. Dan Donx said on January 15, 2023 at 10:29 am
    Reply

    What mental age of reader are you targeting with the first sentence? 10?

    Why not write an article on how to *avoid* upgrading from W10 to W11. Analogous to those like me who avoided upgrading from 7 to 10 for as long as possible.

    If your paymaster Microsoft permits it, of course.

  2. Dexter said on January 15, 2023 at 11:14 am
    Reply

    5. Rufus
    6. Ventoy

    PS. I hate reading these “SEO optimized” articles.

    1. cdr said on January 15, 2023 at 3:32 pm
      Reply

      I used Rufus to create an installer for a 6th gen intel i5 that had MBR. It upgraded using Setup. No issues except for Win 11 always prompting me to replace my local account. Still using Win 10 Pro on all my other PCs to avoid the bullying.

  3. sv said on January 15, 2023 at 6:40 pm
    Reply

    bit pointless to upgrade for the sake of upgrading as you never know when you’ll get locked out because ms might suddenly not provide updates to unsupported systems.

    ps…. time travelling?
    written. Jan 15, 2023
    Updated • Jan 13, 2023

    1. Martin Brinkmann said on January 16, 2023 at 5:49 am
      Reply

      This happens when you schedule a post in WordPress and update it before setting the publication date.

  4. Anonymous said on January 16, 2023 at 8:24 am
    Reply

    Anyone willing to downgrade to this awful OS must like inflicting themselves with harm.

  5. basingstoke said on January 16, 2023 at 11:18 am
    Reply

    I have become convinced now that anybody who has no qualms with using Windows 11/10 must fit into one of the following brackets:

    1) Too young to remember a time before W10 and W11 (doesn’t know better)

    2) Wants to play the latest games on their PC above anything else (or deeply needs some software which already dropped W7 support)

    3) Doesn’t know too much about how computers work, worried that they’d be absolutely lost and in trouble without the “”latest security””

    4) Microsoft apologist that tries to justify that the latest “features” and “changes” are actually a good thing, that improve Windows

    5) Uses their computer to do a bare minimum of like 3 different things, browse web, check emails, etc, so really doesn’t fuss

    Obviously that doesn’t cover everyone, there’s also the category that:

    6) Actually liked W7 more than 10, and held out as long as possible before switching, begrudgingly uses 10 now

    Have I missed any group off this list?

    1. Heinz Strunk said on September 19, 2023 at 3:57 pm
      Reply

      You have missed in this group just about any professional user that uses business software like CAD programs or ERP Programs which are 99% of all professional users from this list.

      Linux doesn’t help anyone who is not a linux kid and apple is just a fancy facebook machine.

  6. ilev said on August 24, 2023 at 7:34 pm
    Reply

    Microsoft has removed KB5029351 update

    1. EP said on August 24, 2023 at 9:21 pm
      Reply

      only from windows update though
      KB5029351 is still available from the ms update catalog site

  7. Anonymous said on August 24, 2023 at 11:05 pm
    Reply

    1. This update is labaled as PREVIEW if it causes issues to unintelligent people, then they shouldn’t have allowed Preview updates ot install.

    2. I have installed it in a 11 years old computer, and no problems at all.

    3. Making a big drama over a bluescreen for an updated labeled as preview is ridiculous.

    This is probably another BS internet drama where people ran programs and scripts that modified the registry until they broke Windows, just for removing stuff that they weren’t even using just for the sake of it.
    Maybe people should stop playing geeks and actually either use Windows 10 or Windows 11, but don’t try to modify things just for the sake of it.

    Sometimes removing or stopping things (like defender is a perfect example) only need intelligence, not scripts or 3rd party programs that might mess with windows.

  8. john said on August 24, 2023 at 11:17 pm
    Reply

    Windows 11 was a pointless release, it was just created because some of the Windows team wanted to boost sales with some sort of new and improved Windows 10. Instead, Microsoft cannot support one version well let alone two.

    1. John G. said on August 25, 2023 at 12:08 pm
      Reply

      Windows 11 is the worst ugly shame by Microsoft ever. They should release with every new W11 version a complete free version of Starallback inside just to make this sh** OS functionally again.

  9. EP said on August 25, 2023 at 3:10 pm
    Reply

    motherboard maker MSI has recently released a statement regarding the “unsupported processor” blue screen error for their boards using Intel 600/700 series chipsets & to avoid the KB5029351 Win11 update:
    https://www.msi.com/news/detail/MSI-On–UNSUPPORTED-PROCESSOR–Error-Message-of-Windows-11-Update-KB5029351-Preview-142215

  10. EP said on August 29, 2023 at 7:32 pm
    Reply

    check out the following recent articles:

    Neowin – Microsoft puts little blame on its Windows update after UNSUPPORTED PROCESSOR BSOD bug:
    https://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-puts-little-blame-on-its-windows-update-after-unsupported-processor-bsod-bug/

    BleepingComputer – Microsoft blames ‘unsupported processor’ blue screens on OEM vendors:
    https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/microsoft-blames-unsupported-processor-blue-screens-on-oem-vendors/

  11. Leonard Britvolli said on August 30, 2023 at 10:33 pm
    Reply

    While there may be changes or updates to the Windows 10 Store for Business and Education in the future, it is premature to conclude that it will be discontinued based solely on rumors.

  12. sembrador said on September 5, 2023 at 9:32 pm
    Reply

    My advice, I left win 15 years ago. Now I’m a happy linux user (linuxmint) but there is Centos, Fedora, Ubuntu depending on your needs.

  13. EP said on September 6, 2023 at 11:55 am
    Reply

    motherboard maker MSI has recently released new BIOS/firmware updates for their Intel 600 & 700 series motherboards to fix the “UNSUPPORTED_PROCESSOR” problem (Sept. 6):

    https://www.msi.com/news/detail/Updated-BIOS-fixes-Error-Message–UNSUPPORTED-PROCESSOR–caused-BSOD-on-MSI-s-Intel-700-and-600-Series-Motherboards-142277

  14. Raphael Benzo said on September 24, 2023 at 9:52 pm
    Reply

    I try to disable the Diagnostics Tracking Service (Connected Devices Platform User Services) but it wont let me disable it, any help will be greatly appreciated.
    Tank you for your help

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