How to rearrange the items in toolbar of windows explor

Ok here goes...

Open regedit and navigate to: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FolderTypes
Right click 'FolderTypes' in the left pane and select Permissions. Click the advanced button.

Goto the Owner tab and select Administrators. Check the box Replace owner on subcontainers and objects. Click Apply.

Goto the Permissions tab (see attached screenshot below). Select Administrators and check the box 'Replace all child object permissions with inheritible permissions from this object'.

Click the Edit button and for the 'apply to' drop down select: This key and subkeys. Check Full Control (if its not already). Click Ok followed by Apply.

You should now be back at the original permissions dialog. Select Administrators and check the Full control box (if its not already checked).

Next post... Adding & removing buttons

Now that you have access to the registry keys you can add, remove and reorder toolbar buttons. Some background info before we get started.

There are different folder templates represented in the registry. Everything from Pictures to Videos and even search results. For this reason you'll need to edit several registry keys so that your buttons will be visible regardless of which folder your browsing.

I'll start with one folder type as an example and list the other reg keys you'll want to edit. Its a good idea to export the FolderTypes key in case you need to restore it.

Goto: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FolderTypes\{0b2baaeb-0042-4dca-aa4d-3ee8648d03e5}

Underneath that key create the following keys if they do not exist:
TasksItemsSelected
TasksNoItemsSelected

Most of the folder types you'll be editing will have these keys, but some do not.

The toolbar buttons are defined in the default value of both the keys mentioned above. To modify double click the default value in the right hand pane.

The Buttons
All buttons are prefixed with Windows. and are separated by a semicolon ;
There are no spaces.

Available Buttons
Possible toolbar buttons can be found in the registry under the key:
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CommandStore\shell

I have not tested all the avail buttons, so I will list the ones I know that do work.

Windows.Copy
Windows.Paste
Windows.Delete
Windows.Rename
Windows.Selectall

So here is a sample of what the default value might look like:
Windows.slideshow;Windows.print;Windows.email

You can re-order these buttons as you like. Or add/remove buttons. Example:
Windows.Burn;Windows.email;Windows.slideshow;Windows.print;Windows.Delete

Tip: Use Notepad to work with the value. It will allow you to have a good overview of the entire string of text.

After editing a value and your done changing buttons, you only need to restart the Explorer shell to see the effects. So let me name the folder types you'll want to edit...

{0b2baaeb-0042-4dca-aa4d-3ee8648d03e5} Pictures Library
{36011842-dccc-40fe-aa3d-6177ea401788} Documents Search Results
{3f2a72a7-99fa-4ddb-a5a8-c604edf61d6b} Music Library
{4dcafe13-e6a7-4c28-be02-ca8c2126280d} Pictures Search Results
{5c4f28b5-f869-4e84-8e60-f11db97c5cc7} Generic (All folder items)
{5f4eab9a-6833-4f61-899d-31cf46979d49} Generic Library
{5fa96407-7e77-483c-ac93-691d05850de8} Videos
{631958a6-ad0f-4035-a745-28ac066dc6ed} Videos Library
{71689ac1-cc88-45d0-8a22-2943c3e7dfb3} Music Search Results
{7d49d726-3c21-4f05-99aa-fdc2c9474656} Documents
{7fde1a1e-8b31-49a5-93b8-6be14cfa4943} Generic Search Results
{80213e82-bcfd-4c4f-8817-bb27601267a9} Compressed Folder (zip folder)
{94d6ddcc-4a68-4175-a374-bd584a510b78} Music
{b3690e58-e961-423b-b687-386ebfd83239} Pictures
{ea25fbd7-3bf7-409e-b97f-3352240903f4} Videos Search Results
{fbb3477e-c9e4-4b3b-a2ba-d3f5d3cd46f9} Documents Library

I know its a long list. After your done editing your buttons, you should export the foldertypes registry branch so you can restore it in the event of a OS reload.

Hopefully this will get you started. Sorry for the long post.

Thank you..........

Im happy you guys found it usefull. Myself, I cant live without the delete and rename button since I use those tasks often.

Disk4mat said:

It is possible to reorder the buttons but requires heavy registry editing. Including changing permissions of several keys before the edits can be made.

You can re-arrange the order of the buttons, remove buttons and add additional buttons (such as delete, rename, select all).

The only thing is I cant locate the view button. Only the buttons that are on the left side of the toolbar (burn, share etc).

I can post the steps if anyone is interested?

If this works in Vista yes please.

Somone had an app to add the Red "X" for delete but his sites down now (same peep that had the 3D spinning Picture in the Start Menu) and both do not work since SP1.

It works in vista but with a few changes. I had wrote a batch file to modify the registry so that you didnt need an application.

Unzip the 2 files to any folder and run the bat file (Enable Button.bat). Afterwards you can delete the files as they arent needed any longer. Save the zip for future use.

Be sure to run the file as an admin

*For 32 bit only

I am 64bit.

helmutcheese... For x64 Vista follow the steps in post #11 to change the registry permissions. Once that is complete, import the attached reg file to add the Delete button (works for 32 or 64 bit).

thanks alot. been looking for this.