How do I disable the context menu for the Start button?

John Savill

January 8, 2000

1 Min Read
ITPro Today logo in a gray background | ITPro Today

A. The context menu if displayed when you right click on an object. If you right click on the Start button you get options to start explorer, find etc. To disable this perform the following:

  1. Start the registry editor (regedit.exe)

  2. Move to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTDirectoryshell

  3. Delete the keys under this, for example DosHere, find

  4. Move to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTFoldershell

  5. Delete the keys under this, for example explore, open

Right clicking on Start will now have removed these options.

To disable the context menu entirely perform the following

  1. Start the registry editor (regedit.exe)

  2. Move to HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer

  3. From the Edit menu select New - DWORD Value

  4. Enter a name of NoTrayContextMenu and press Enter

  5. Double click the new value and set to 1.

To re-enable the Context menu you would set to 0. Logout and in again for this to take effect.

About the Author

Sign up for the ITPro Today newsletter
Stay on top of the IT universe with commentary, news analysis, how-to's, and tips delivered to your inbox daily.

You May Also Like