Hacking the Context Menu in Windows

The right-click context menu in Windows houses many of the most commonly used commands to perform different tasks such as renaming a file, emailing a file or creating shortcuts. You can also hack the context menu to include additional commands. In this post, we take a look at a few commands that will come in handy when you are working with Dropbox or when you want to copy a file or folder to another location.

How to Send Documents to Dropbox Using Right-Click Context Menu

One of the popular methods of moving documents around various locations on the computer is to use the Send To right-click context menu. But the Send To menu does not offer too many options to send files. The default options such as Send to Documents and Send to Mail recipient are handy, but if you want to share files with cloud services such as Dropbox, then you have to do it the long way. In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to send documents to Dropbox using the right-click context menu in Windows.

1. Click Start and in the Search box, type %APPDATA%MicrosoftWindowsSendTo and press Enter.

2. The SendTo folder is displayed showing shortcuts to the Send to menu.

3. In the left navigation, expand the Favorites folder.

4. Drag the Dropbox folder from the Favorites section and drop it in the SendTo folder.

4. You’ll notice that the folder in the Favorites section has been moved as a shortcut to the SendTo folder. Now drag the folder back to the Favorites section. This will create a link in the Favorites section.

5. Close the folder.

6. Now right-click a document on the desktop or other location and choose Send to. You will notice the option to send the document to Dropbox.

If you want shortcuts to specific folders in Dropbox, right-click the folder in Dropbox and select Create shortcut. Then cut the shortcut and paste it in the SendTo folder.

You can also use the Move to and Copy to options to move files and folders using the right-click context menu.

How to Move Files to Folders by Creating a Context Menu Shortcut

1. Click Start and in the Search box, type regedit.

2. In the Search results, click regedit.exe.

3. In the Registry Editor window, expand HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, AllFilesystemObjects and Shellex.

4. Right click ContextMenuHandlers, select New and then click Key.

5. Type Move to Folder and press Enter.

6. In the right pane, right-click Default and select Modify.

7. In the Edit String dialog box, in the Value data textbox, type {C2FBB631-2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13} and click OK.

8. Close the Registry Editor window.

9. Right-click a file you want to move to another folder and choose Move to Folder.

10. In the Move Items dialog box, select the folder you want to move the file to, and click Move.

How to Include a Copy to Folder Context Menu Shortcut in Windows 7

1. Click Start and in the Search box, type regedit.

2. In the Search results, click regedit.exe.

3. In the Registry Editor window, expand HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, AllFilesystemObjects and Shellex.

4. Right click ContextMenuHandlers, select New and then click Key.

5. Type Copy to Folder and press Enter.

6. In the right pane, with Copy to Folder selected, right-click Default and select Modify.

7. In the Edit String dialog box, in the Value data textbox, type {C2FBB630-2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13} and click OK.

8. Close the Registry Editor window.

9. Right-click a file you want to move to another folder and choose Copy to Folder.

10. In the Copy Items dialog box, select the folder you want to move the file to, and click Copy.

Voila. You’re done. you can now copy files to any folder you want to simply by using the right-click context menu option. Remember, that tweaking the Windows Registry has its risks, so be sure you have a verified backup before making any changes.