How to add items to the 'Create New' context menu in Windows 10

Creating new files in Windows 10 is easy: Right-clicking on the desktop or in a folder brings up a list of new file types you can create (under the New menu). But what if the file type you want isn't in Windows 10's New context menu?

You will have to run the program (using the file type) to create a new file of this type. This is not very convenient. To make things more efficient, you can add items to Windows 10's New context menu.

What you should know about adding items to the context menu

This technique will add items to the Windows New context menu, but there are a few things you should know before doing so.

1. This involves editing the Registry

Add entries to the New context menu in Windows 10 related to the use of registry entries. Only continue if you know what you are doing or you are confident about manipulating the registry. In such cases, you should always make a backup of the registry or specific entries in the registry so that you can restore your PC if things don't go as planned.

If editing the registry causes more problems, you can always reset the Windows Registry to default.

2. Files created this way will be "empty"

You are creating a new file of a certain type. As such, the file will be "empty", with nothing in it. For example, you can create a video file this way, but the file won't contain any data and won't play anything if you try to open the file with the video player.

This is similar to creating a new Microsoft Word document. You have to open the newly created Word file and enter text into it to make it meaningful. The same goes for any file type created this way. You cannot use this method to copy data or files. However, this is useful for quickly creating a new file of a certain type.

3. Not all file types will work as intended

Although you can add any file type to the New context menu in Windows, some file types may not work as you expect. For example, Google Doc files won't work properly, because they require different tools and more data to function like Google Docs. It is best to select only data file types.

How to add items to the Windows New context menu

This method is simple, but may not give you the results you want in all cases. Follow these steps to expand your New context menu.

Step 1. Open the Windows Registry by pressing Windows key + R and typing 'regedit' or by typing 'regedit' at the Start menu.

Step 2. Navigate to and expand the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT folder. In this directory, directories or keys that begin with a dot refer to the file extension. You can create a context menu item for any of these. The article has chosen the comic format .cbr as an example, which is just a more specific version of the RAR file. This allows you to create new comic files.

Step 3. Right click on the extension of the file type you want and go to New > Key.

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Step 4. Rename the new key ShellNew.

Step 5. Right click on the key you just created (ShellNew) and select New > String Value. A new string value will be created under key.

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Step 6. Rename this NullFile.

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Step 7. Double-click this string to open it and give it the value 1.

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Step 8. You can close Registry Editor.

Step 9. Refresh or reload File Explorer.

Now, when you right-click on the desktop or in File Explorer and go to the New context menu, you will see this newly created file type.

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Adding new context menu entries in Windows 10 through Registry editing involves creating strings and registry keys. A simple rule to follow is to add the file types that you normally work with. This will save you the effort of having to browse to a location to save files and data you need to create regularly.

On the other hand, if you want to clear some of the clutter in the right-click menu by removing items from the New context menu, the operation is also quite simple.

Jessica Tanner

Update 01 August 2022