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When I right click anywhere I get an option to add a new file with a specified extension. I would like to add some custom files into this menu, so I can right click and create a new PHP file for instance.

How can I do this?

Bogdan
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asked Sep 3, 2009 at 2:28
4
  • try new menu editor tool included in Right Click Enhancer at rbsoft.org/downloads/right-click-enhancer Commented Dec 15, 2012 at 7:50
  • 2
    If you are having problems adding an entirely new file extension (rather than simply adding NullFile/FileName to an existing entry) in Windows 7, then see this other question... superuser.com/questions/588647/… Commented Nov 1, 2013 at 10:58
  • 2
    Ramesh’s site is a good source for manually adding entries. Commented Nov 10, 2013 at 15:47
  • I tried this for Windows 10 and it works. I add png file to the new list. Commented Nov 17, 2020 at 18:50

11 Answers 11

73

To add extensions of your choice to the list: create a file, add the content below, save it as whatever.reg, and run it.

Note: Replace .png with the file extension you want to add and replace whatever with anything you want.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.png\ShellNew]
"NullFile"=""

Source

answered Sep 3, 2009 at 2:41
5
  • 1
    This didn't work for me in Windows 7. I had two other existing keys below ".doc" (PersistentHandler and Word.Document.8.) Could that interfere with this? The contents of the .reg file I added to my Reg were: Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.doc\ShellNew] "NullFile"="" Commented Jan 31, 2011 at 15:15
  • This didn't work for me when I tried to add a .tex extension for LaTeX editing. I did try a restart. Commented Jan 11, 2012 at 9:13
  • 1
    I had to run the .reg file twice to make it work. Thank you for this answer. Commented Mar 15, 2016 at 13:00
  • Didn't work for me in Windows 8.1 :( I retried repeatedly, and restarted too. Commented Oct 30, 2016 at 21:19
  • 7
    Didn't work for me in Windows 10, 1709 :( Restarted explorer and restarted machine even, still... Commented Jan 12, 2018 at 11:29
78

One more thing:

If you want to add a file as a template for the new item, use

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.html\ShellNew]
"FileName"="html.html"

and then place the file (html.html) in:

  • For your own profile: %Userprofile%\Templates
  • For all users: %Allusersprofile%\Templates
  • For the whole system: %Systemroot%\ShellNew

One more detail: if you want to delete the "Windows Live Call" entry, use:

[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.wlcshrtctv2\LiveCall\ShellNew]
user219095
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answered Sep 25, 2009 at 18:24
8
  • 2
    In case anyone is wondering, the FileName entry appears to override the NullFile entry mentioned in other answers. You don't seem to need to delete an existing NullFile value. However, having both entries does seem to confuse some other 3rd party utilities, such as NirSoft's ShellMenuNew. (Windows 7) Commented Nov 1, 2013 at 10:55
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    I don't think it needs to be in %Userprofile%Templates etc if you give the whole path name to the file. Commented Jun 20, 2015 at 2:39
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    What do I do if I want to create two shortcuts to two different templates for the same program? For instance, I used this method perfectly to create a context menu item for an "article" template for TeXworks. I now want to also add a "modified_article" template for TeXworks. Can I add both to the context menu? Thanks! Commented May 22, 2016 at 18:19
  • @Prahar That's a new question you should ask separately Commented Jul 15, 2016 at 11:12
  • 4
    In Windows 8.1, the Templates folders you list do not work. I get an "access denied" error. Where Templates should be is now a shortcut folder thing called a "junction" apparently--and it is a hidden "operating system specific" file. Therefore, the Templates folder is now moved. See this link for the new mapping (jimmah.com/vista/Security/junctions.aspx). Apparently it's now C:\Users\USER_NAME\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Templates for your own profile, for example. Commented Oct 30, 2016 at 20:29
18

Go in to registry editor and expand HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT

Go to .file_extention

and create a key called ShellNew

Inside that, create a new string key called NullFile with no value

For example, if I wanted to create a new entry for a blank .wil object* I would create

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.wil\ShellNew]
NullFile = ""

*if the file extension such as .wil does not exist, I would first create a file with that extension and double click it. Open it with the program of my choice as this would then create the other needed registry keys and make your job easier.

answered Sep 3, 2009 at 2:49
1
18

ShellNewHandler helped me to restore my Windows 7 shell menu> New> txt document entry.

enter image description here

  1. Uncheck .txt
  2. Click Apply
  3. Check .txt
  4. Click Apply
Gareth
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answered Sep 16, 2011 at 1:23
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  • 4
    Does this allow you to add new entries? From the screenshots and description it doesn't appear to. Commented Nov 1, 2013 at 10:16
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    this does NOT allow you to add entries... so it is completely irrelevant to the topic. Commented Jun 6, 2017 at 14:05
17

It seems that the other solutions here are outdated. At least none of these worked for me in Windows 10 v. 1709 Build 16299.192 (Edit: still works in version 1809). I did some testing in a VM and this is what works in Windows 10 1709, as of 2018年01月12日:

Add the registry file:

Create a new registry file file with the following content:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
; new file type
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.xyz]
@="xyz"
; template
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.xyz\ShellNew]
"FileName"=""
; file type name
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\xyz]
@="XYZ test file"

Replace xyz with the extension you would like to add. And replace XYZ test file with the name of the file extension (e.g a .scss file would be "syntactically awesome style sheet file"). If you want to use a template file see the explanation below.

It might be necessary to restart Windows Explorer after you have added the registry file. You can restart explorer.exe by typing the following in CMD:

taskkill /f /im explorer.exe & start explorer.exe

enter image description here

enter image description here

Explanation of the code:

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.xyz]
@="xyz"

Will create a new file type in the registry.

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.xyz\ShellNew]
"FileName"=""

This will enable you to use a template for all new files of this file format. We could for example write "template.xyz" and make a new file called "template.xyz" and use it a s a template. So each time you make a new file it will be populated with pre-made content. As Eduardo Molteni mentioned the paths for the template files are:%appdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Templates, %programdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Templates or for the whole system %Systemroot%\ShellNew. In this example we haven’t specified any template name because we don’t want to use any.

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\xyz]
@="XYZ test file"

This will be the name of the file type both for the context menu and the newly created files. As far as I know leaving this value blank does not work.

Icon:

The icon is added once Windows have associated a software with the file type.

answered Jan 12, 2018 at 15:32
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    Great answer, thanks. Please note in Windows 10, %userprofile%\Templates has moved to %appdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Templates and %Allusersprofile%\Templates has moved to %programdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Templates Commented May 30, 2018 at 16:18
6

None of these methods were working for me in Windows 10.

I finally found this page that explained that you need to reference another key that contains the name and default icon.

This is the minimum needed to create an entry, but it won't have an icon.

NOTE: the third entry is for a new key textfile referenced in the (Default) value of .txt

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.txt]
@="textfile"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.txt\ShellNew]
"NullFile"=""
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\textfile]
@="Text Document"

Here are two ways to specify an icon

  1. Tell Explorer to use the default icon for the content type:
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.txt] 
@="textfile" 
"Content Type"="text/plain"
"PerceivedType"="text"

or 2. Specify an icon under textfile like so:

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\textfile\DefaultIcon]
@="%SystemRoot%\\system32\\imageres.dll,-102"

Oh, and at least for me, just closing and reopening Explorer (make sure to close all instances) is enough to reload the context menu. You don't need to restart the whole machine.

answered Jun 24, 2017 at 13:31
1
  • At my side "Notepad++" changed the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.txt to @="Notepad++_file". So adding HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Notepad++_file with @="Textfile" did the trick. Thanks, good find! Commented Jul 28, 2017 at 20:38
5

For removing entries from the list, here is a program which allows you to enable/disable entries from a GUI. Much easier than searching the registry!

Unfortunately, it does not allow you to add entries.

answered Mar 12, 2011 at 14:19
0
5

This information is all officially documented by Microsoft; normally intended for developers who are registering their own new file types.

Extending the New Submenu

When a user opens the File menu in Windows Explorer, the first command is New. Selecting this command displays a submenu. By default, it contains two commands, Folder and Shortcut, that allow users to create subfolders and shortcuts. This submenu can be extended to include file creation commands for any file type.

To add a file-creation command to the New submenu, your application's files must have a file type associated with them. Include a ShellNew subkey under the key for the file name extension. When the File menu's New command is selected, the Shell will add it to the New submenu. The command's display string will be the descriptive string that is assigned to the program's ProgID.

Assign one or more data values to the ShellNew subkey to specify the file creation method. The available values follow.

  • Command: Executes an application. This is a REG_SZ value specifying the path of the application to be executed. For example, you could set it to launch a wizard.
  • Data: Creates a file containing specified data. Data is a REG_BINARY value with the file's data. Data is ignored if either NullFile or FileName is specified.
  • FileName: Creates a file that is a copy of a specified file. FileName is a REG_SZ value, set to the fully qualified path of the file to be copied.
  • NullFile: Creates an empty file. NullFile is not assigned a value. If NullFile is specified, the Data and FileName values are ignored.

And example create a new empty mpy file:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
 (Default) = MyProgram.1
 MyProgram.1
 .myp
 ShellNew
 NullFile

To create a new file based on a specific template file:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
 .myp
 (Default) = MyProgram.1
 MyProgram.1
 ShellNew
 FileName: REG_SZ = "%ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Templates\MyNewTemplate.myp"
answered Feb 21, 2019 at 3:52
1
  • This is the most helpful answer I've seen so far, but I'm still having difficulty with the Command value. Under HKCR\.txt\ShellNew, I set the data as "C:\Program Files\Notepad++\notepad++.exe" "%1" and it while it does create a new TXT file, it does not launch Notepad++, which is the behavior I'm really looking for. Any advice? Commented Feb 7, 2024 at 3:27
4

You didn't say what version of Windows you're using--if it's XP you can download the TweakUI PowerToy from Microsoft (also covered in Wikipedia). Click on Templates and add/remove file types to your heart's content. Here's what it looks like: enter image description here

answered Jan 26, 2013 at 22:35
0
2

Create a plain text file and add the following line to it:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.txt\ShellNew]
"NullFile"=""

Save the file and rename it's extention to a .reg file. E.g. "myNewItem.reg". Be sure that you renamed the extention and not only the file name like (myNewItem.reg.txt)

Double click the file and it will update your registry.

The next step, and that is very important, restart your computer directly. So DON'T try to open the content menu to see if it's already works! First restart you computer.

If you open the content menu to see if your amazing new item is already listed, the registry will be restored ...

Also try this program: http://sourceforge.net/projects/shellnewhandler/

Sathyajith Bhat ♦
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answered Nov 20, 2011 at 17:14
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  • whether or not I restart immediately I can't get this to work in Windows 8.1. No idea why. Commented Oct 30, 2016 at 23:19
  • The linked tool says it is for Win7 or Win Vista Commented Sep 3, 2023 at 17:31
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PowerToys New+ (for Windows 10 and 11)

If you have Windows 10 or 11:

  1. Go to PowerToys GitHub release page and install it

  2. In the PowerToy settings dialog, under "File Management" click on "New+"

    enter image description here

  3. Enable New+ and choose the location of your Templates

    enter image description here

  4. In the right-click context menu of File Explorer, a new entry "New+" will show up with all your templates

answered Mar 7 at 6:01

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