Classic Shell Reborn

ShellExView is the most effective tool for finding and disabling the responsible extension. There is no paid version, no premium tier, no trial period, and no feature restrictions. The UAC prompt is required for modifying extension states. Avoid third-party download sites that may bundle adware with the installer.

The official download source for ShellExView is the NirSoft website at nirsoft.net/utils/shexview.html. ShellExView is a specialist — it focuses exclusively on shell extensions and gives you deep detail about each one. To update, download the latest version from our download section and extract it over the existing files. Run it as part of your provisioning process to disable bloatware shell extensions before the user logs in. If you uninstalled a program but its shell extension is still registered, that is a cleanup failure — disable or leave it disabled.

The entire program is a single 120 KB executable plus one help file. Download a small INI file for your language and drop it next to the executable. Checks each extension for a valid digital signature from a trusted publisher. Extensions with missing files, unsigned code, or unusual attributes are automatically highlighted in pink. Disabling an extension takes a single click or keyboard shortcut, and re-enabling it is just as simple.

Download ShellExView 2.01

Useful for IT teams tracking which extensions are installed across workstations or building baseline configurations. Save the full extension list in multiple formats for documentation, comparison, or analysis. Unsigned or tampered extensions are flagged, which helps identify software that might have been modified or installed from an unverified source. best online pokies australia real money Everything you need to inspect, manage, and fix Windows shell extensions in one portable tool. Version 2.01 supports Windows from XP through Windows 11, works on both 32-bit and 64-bit systems, and the entire program fits in a ZIP file under 140 KB.

ShellExView manages dynamic shell extensions — DLL files registered as COM objects that inject code into Explorer at runtime. Both tools are made by NirSoft and both deal with the right-click context menu, but they target different types of menu entries. This re-enables every extension in the list, including ones that were already enabled (pressing F8 on an enabled extension does nothing, so it is safe). If you change your mind, open ShellExView again, find the disabled entry (it will show “Yes” in the Disabled column), select it, and press F8 to re-enable it. The 64-bit version of ShellExView shows both types in a single list, so it gives you the most complete picture. However, some older applications install 32-bit extensions that run under the WoW64 compatibility layer.

Download ShellExView – Free for Windows PC (

  • If you are trying to clean up entries from the classic context menu (the one that appears after clicking “Show more options”), ShellExView handles that directly.
  • ShellExView gives you visibility into this hidden layer of your operating system and the ability to disable the extensions causing problems.
  • The first thing most users do is hide built-in Windows extensions.
  • When you disable an extension, ShellExView writes a single registry value that tells Windows to skip loading that extension — the original DLL file remains untouched.

Windows Firewall may need an exception for remote registry access. This is useful for IT administrators who need to troubleshoot Explorer issues on employee workstations without physically going to each machine. On Windows XP and earlier, administrator privileges are not enforced by the OS in the same way, so ShellExView runs with full access for any admin-level user account. ShellExView needs to read and write to registry keys under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, which are protected areas that require elevated permissions.

Windows 32-bit

A slow right-click menu is almost always caused by a shell extension that hangs while loading. The ZIP download includes only the executable and help file — nothing else. NirSoft publishes MD5/SHA hashes for every download on their site so you can verify file integrity.