Right-click not working on desktop icons (but works everywhere else)

akfocus · 13 Jan 2020

I'm new to Win10 (just migrated from Win7). Running Win10 version 1909.

For any icon on my desktop, right-click does not work. Windows times-out for maybe half a minute and then restores my screen.

However, right-click works everywhere else, including on any blank space on the desktop, on the Start button, and in the taskbar, on any menu and within File Explorer.

When I initially updated to Win10 yesterday, right-click worked on the desktop icons too. I tried tweaks (with Winaero Tweaker, Open Shell and StartIsBack) and may have screwed something up with one of those.

The problem also occurs in Safe Mode. I ran SFC /Scannow, and it found no problems.

Do you have any idea what option settings or registry changes I might try?

dalchina · 13 Jan 2020

The usual initial approach to diagnosing slow right click or file explorer crashing and restarting- which is what's happening in your case is this

Fix Slow or Freezing Right Click Context Menu in Windows

i.e. disable added context menu entries until you find the one responsible.

You can also try system restore- if you've enabled it and have a relevant restore point.

Please note: again and again tenforums members recommend the routine use of regular disk imaging e.g. Macrium reflect (free-paid). The temptation is just to hack away, configure and tweak - until something goes wrong.

The discipline of creating a disk image, noting changes, making the next one (e.g. differential image wih hthe free edition) and repeating that with more differential images until the next upgrade will stand you in good stead. Even if your disk fails, your PC is unbootable etc. You can often restore an image of Windows far more quickly than iterative fixes with someone's help.

Note that in 1909 MS broke file explorer search when they changed it. Widely reported.

akfocus · 13 Jan 2020

Thanks for your help, dalchina. Using ShellExView, as you suggested, used per the information on the link you provided, led me to the fix on my first guess among several context menu processes.

It was one I had installed on my old Win7 setup, ExplorerContextMenuTweaker.

dalchina · 13 Jan 2020

glad it was an easy one.