ctxmenuHow it compares
The other managers for the Windows context menu, what each one is built on, and where this one is different.
Seven tools for the same menu, and none of them do the same thing. This page says which is which, so the choice is an informed one rather than a search result.
Where these entries come from
Documentation, release notes and licence files of each project, read on 21 August 2026. Every cell is read rather than tested, and the amber ones say where a feature exists but is limited. Versions and prices age fast; if a line here is wrong, say so in an issue and it gets corrected.
The field
| Tool | Licence | Built on | Needs admin | Approach |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| context-manager | MIT | Rust, one file | no | GUI, writes to HKCU first |
| ContextMenuManager | GPL-3.0 1 | C# WinForms, .NET Framework | partly | Toggles the entries that are there |
| Nilesoft Shell | MIT | C++ shell extension | yes | Replaces the menu, configured in .nss |
| FileMenu Tools | from about $11 | Closed source, native | yes | 40+ file utilities plus own commands |
| ShellExView / ShellMenuView | Freeware, closed | Native, portable | for HKLM | View and disable, nothing else |
| Easy Context Menu | Freeware, closed | Portable | yes | Checkbox presets per menu root |
| Right Click Enhancer | $9.99 Pro | .NET, closed | yes | Nine separate tools |
1 The repository's LICENCE file says GPL-3.0 while the About box
in the program says MIT. Treat it as GPL-3.0 until the project says otherwise.
Feature by feature
present · limited, or needs a workaround · absent
| ctxmenu | CMM | Shell | FMT | NirSoft | ECM | RCE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free of charge | partly | partly | |||||
| Open source | |||||||
| Permissive licence | – | – | – | – | |||
| Windows 11 menu | replaces it | partly | partly | partly | |||
| Works without administrator rights | partly | partly | |||||
| GUI rather than a config file | |||||||
| Backup before every change | partly | unverified | manual export | partly | reg export | ||
| Self-update, signature checked | check only | partly | partly | ||||
| Favourites list | via config | partly | presets | partly | |||
| Dark and light mode in the app | menu themes | ||||||
| Language switched at runtime | 2 | many | – | restart | 34 | ||
| Add entries by drag and drop | partly | ||||||
| Search across names, paths and commands | filter | partly | quick filter | ||||
| Finds entries whose program is gone | manual | ||||||
| Services from any OpenAPI address | |||||||
| One file, no runtime to install | .NET | DLL | .NET |
CMM = ContextMenuManager · Shell = Nilesoft Shell · FMT = FileMenu Tools · ECM = Easy Context Menu · RCE = Right Click Enhancer
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