How to add or remove Default Apps from Desktop context menu in Windows 11/10

In this post, we will show you how to add or remove Default Apps from the Desktop context menu in Windows 11/10 by editing the Windows Registry.

Add or remove Default Apps from Desktop context menu

A default app is the program that Windows uses automatically when you open a particular file type or protocol on your device. When logged in as an administrator on Windows 11/10, you can make the following changes from the Default apps page in Settings, which applies to the current user:

To add or remove Default Apps from Desktop context menu in Windows 11/10 requires you modify the registry, and you must be signed in as an administrator to be able to add or remove Default apps desktop context menu for all users. For Windows 11 users, when you add the Default apps option, to access the item, you need to Show more options.

Since this is a registry operation, it is recommended that you back up the registry or create a system restore point as necessary precautionary measures.

To add Default Apps to Desktop context menu in Windows 11/10, do the following:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DesktopBackground\Shell\DefaultApps]"MUIVerb"="Default apps""Position"="Bottom""Icon"="imageres.dll,-24"[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DesktopBackground\Shell\DefaultApps\command]@="explorer ms-settings:defaultapps"

To remove (default setting) Default Apps from Desktop context menu in Windows 11/10, do the following:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DesktopBackground\Shell\DefaultApps]

The .reg files will add or remove the registry key in the registry path below:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DesktopBackground\Shell\DefaultApps

That’s it on how to add or remove Default Apps from Desktop context menu in Windows 11/10!

Related post: Add Project Display option to Desktop Context Menu

To add items, select the items in the left pane and click on the Add or + button. To remove items, select items are shown in the right pane and click on the Delete or Trash button. Cleaning the New Context Menu will give you a smaller new menu by removing the items you do not want.

To add more options or items items to the new Context Menu, do the following:

To set default apps on your Desktop in Windows 11/10 PC, click the Start menu, select Settings > Apps > Default apps. Select which default you want to set, and then choose the app. You can also get new apps in Microsoft Store.