Description
Shell Extensions are in-process COM objects which extends the abilities of Windows operating system. Most shell extensions are automatically installed by the operating system, but there are also many other applications that install additional shell extension components. For example: If you install WinZip on your computer, you'll see a special WinZip menu when you right-click on a Zip file. This menu is created by adding a shell extension to the system.
The ShellExView utility displays the details of shell extensions installed on your computer, and allows you to easily disable and enable each shell extension.
ShellExView can be used for solving context-menu problems in Explorer environment. For more information, read the following article:
Right-click is slow or weird behavior caused by context menu handlers
Disable/Enable Shell Extensions
The ShellExView utility allows you to disable and enable the shell extensions components on your system. In order to disable or enable a shell extension item, select the desired item, and from the File menu (or from the pop-up menu) select the appropriate option - "Enable Selected Items" or "Disable Selected Items".
Here's 2 examples of useful things that you can do with this feature:
Context Menu: Some applications, like WinZip, CuteFTP, and others, add some items to the context menu when you right-click on a file in explorer window. If you disable the appropriate shell extension, you won't get these additional menu items.
In order to locate the desired shell extension item:
Sort the extensions list by the "Type" column and look at all "Context Menu" items.
Search the application that creates the menu you want to disable. The icon near each item can help to locate the desired shell extension.
Shell Folder: When you enter into some special folders like "History" and "Temporary Internet Files", you don't see the real file system, but the a virtual folder that the shell extension create for you. If you want to watch the real file system inside "History" or "Temporary Internet Files", you can disable the appropriate shell extension items.
