How to add an explorer context menu for a file extension?

I was inspired by my other question to try the following:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\.sln]

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\.sln\shell]

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\.sln\shell\countlines]
@="countlines"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\.sln\shell\countlines\command]
@="c:\\countlines\\countlines.exe" %1

This should be adding a context menu item named "countlines" that runs the "countlines.exe" command, but it doesn't work.

How does one add a context menu entry for a given file extension?

asksuperuser

Posted 2010-05-02T10:24:37.013

Reputation:

Here's thinking that this is a dupe of the question linked to. OP should be adding this to that question via an edit, no? – marcusw – 2010-05-03T19:18:55.363

@marcusw: doesn't appear a duplicate to me; if anything it's a more general case (in which case the other question can be closed as a duplicate of this one). – quack quixote – 2010-05-03T19:26:25.637

Answers

The default value of the .sln key should be something like VisualStudio.Launcher.sln. That's called the program ID (ProgID) and it's the key you should edit to change the context menu:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\VisualStudio.Launcher.sln\shell]

A ProgID key always takes precedence, so any changes made to the extension key will be ignored when a ProgID is present. ProgIDs are mainly used to group extensions into logical file types.

efotinis

Posted 2010-05-02T10:24:37.013

Reputation: 3 524

@efotinis: slightly unrelated, but is that why jpegs are unaffected by these registry tweaks but avis are?

– quack quixote – 2010-05-04T10:08:41.093

This article helps in creating context menus for specific file types.

https://blog.sverrirs.com/2014/05/creating-cascading-menu-items-in.html

bobkush

Posted 2010-05-02T10:24:37.013

Reputation: 360