Create a cascaded menu in modern Windows 11 context menu.

Unfortunately, it cannot be done directly. IMO, there was no good reason for Microsoft to not carry this feature over from the classic context menu. The issues with the old menu are caused by in-process context menu handlers. The context menu items adding via the registry were never a problem.

Anyhow, the workaround is to use the tool Custom Context Menu. Note that it shows a price of $0.99 but if you click that button, you'll see that it has an unlimited free trial.

Personally, I prefer to use the classic context menu. You can use my free SwitchExplorer to switch back to the old menu (but I'm guessing you already know about switching and prefer to use the new menu).

For now, if you want to directly add your own items to the new menu, you have to learn to program a DLL, designed for the new context menu, in C++ and code-sign the assembly. It's hard even for experienced programmers. I'm currently working on a program that will appear in the both the new and classic context menu and it's taken me way too many hours to get everything working correctly.

Thank you very much for the response @LesFarch.

Yes, I am aware of the ability to switch back to the old menus.

I much prefer the new way of having cascaded menus, which helps prevent the context menu from becoming too large.

I haven't looked into creating my own dll for this, mostly because I wanted to avoid it at all costs, but it sounds like there is no other choice.

You are saying to accomplish what I desired the dll must be written in C++, and no other language. I would have thought MS would be thrilled to support C# for this. It feels rather dumb to me to have that as a requirement.

As this is for a Domain controlled PC, I cannot advocate for a third party program such as "Custom Context Menu".

I am interested in your attempts to do this. It sounds like there isn't sufficient documentation on this, which would make it difficult to accomplish. I have so many tasks that I'd like to accomplish, I am unsure when I would get to doing this myself.

I appreciate your response.

Have a good day.

Hello,  MD.Seradex

 

Welcome to Microsoft Community.  

 

Thanks for your feedback, Unfortunately, the context menu in Windows 11 cannot be modified to add new items through the registry.

 

The registry can only affect the classic context menu.

...

 

I hope the information above can help you.

 

Lugoo Bei | Microsoft Community Support Specialist  

That isn't entirely true.

I actually have had minor success modifying the modern context menu in Windows 11, and even adding a child menu, however I don't think I ever got the caption right, and it only would show a single entry.

None-the-less, I am quite disappointed to hear that this actually requires what I feel to be an inferior way when the menu does not need to be dynamic in any way.

I appreciate your response.

Thank you

Hello,  MD.Seradex

Welcome to Microsoft Community.  

Thanks for your feedback, Unfortunately, the context menu in Windows 11 cannot be modified to add new items through the registry.

The registry can only affect the classic context menu.

However, if you wish to explore Windows features, I recommend seeking help on Microsoft Learn, where there are more experts in related fields who can provide you with better solutions.

Of course,you can also submit your questions through the FeedbackHub (if convenient, please provide as much detail as possible, includingpictures, videos, etc.).

Send feedback to Microsoft with the Feedback Hub app

Please share the feedback link after submitting, I will submityour feedback to the relevant team for investigation through internal channels.

I hope the information above can help you.

Lugoo Bei | Microsoft Community Support Specialist