Windows 10 offer you to add frequently used applications to the context menu. In case you often use different applications and you don’t have a desktop icon then the best way is to add that specific application to the context menu. Very similar to the Dropbox, you can add applications for quick access. Many other applications integrate them to the context menu of all the files to perform quick operations. WinRAR is a good example. So, whenever you want to compress a file, you simply right click on the file and choose the compress option rather than opening WinRAR for each file individually.
Editing the Context Menu Options
To do this, you need to edit the registry files with Administrator rights. Browse to the registry
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shell
Just right-click on the Shell Key and create a new key by New > Key option. Provide the application name to add to the context menu. Make sure that the application name is accurate as the name of the software (Case Sensitive). Now add another key under the application and name it as command.
This is how you can link to the application to the key you created. Browse the location of the application executable in the drive. Get the complete path of the executable file and place it is the default value of the command key you created by double-clicking it.
Here you go. Now open the context menu by right-click on any empty space on Desktop and you will be able to run the specific application from the context menu option.
This adds a shortcut of the file to the context menu and links it with the application’s executable so whenever you open the context menu, it will show the app you added to the registry.
Note: Make sure you create a backup of the registry before editing it. So in case if anything goes wrong you can get back the previous settings. In case you want to remove the application from the context menu, you can just follow the previous steps and remove the registry item where you created it.