Securely Remove The File Explorer Context Menu

A very common functionality on the Windows platform that's used by the majority of users on a daily basis, Is the simple right-click of the mouse. This presents an array of powerful options to customize and perform tasks, according to one's preference and usability. Whatever the reason may be, If you wish to disable It, In this tutorial, I will show you how to securely remove the File Explorer context menu.


So what's the purpose of this you ask? Well, there are no hard and fast rules- you decide based on your computing environment. Personally, If I had multiple users sharing my computer, I'd want to apply as many restrictions as possible, thus preserving my settings and configurations. And disabling the right-click, Is certainly part of this equation. If you share the same opinion, then this tutorial Is for you.

To achieve this, I will be using the good old Group Policy Editor, that's only available In Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise and Education editions. You'd be surprised at just how simple the process Is, so without further ado, let's rip Into this tutorial.

Step One:

To access the Group Policy Editor, open the Run menu, enter gpedit.msc and hit OK. 

Step Two:

The Group Policy Editor will now open, so navigate to the following directory.

User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > File Explorer

Make sure File Explorer Is selected and then on the right pane, double-click on Remove File Explorer's default context menu as shown below.

Step Three:

To the left of the window, click the Enabled radio button and then hit OK to finalize the process. The right-click context menu will now be disabled. Obviously, I cannot Illustrate something that's not functional.

Final Thoughts:

This not only disables the right click In File Explorer, but also when right-clicking on a blank area and selected Icons on the Desktop. The good thing about this Implementation, Is that the change takes effect Immediately, without the need to reboot your PC.

To reverse the change and have the right click menu functioning as per It's original state, refer to Step Three above, and select the Not Configured radio button. Don't forget to also hit OK.