Windows Explorer New: Add File Types and Templates

Max Rohde

Nov 12, 2014 — 2 min read

Right clicking within a folder of the Windows Explorer allows access to a convenient way to create new files through the context menu:

This post discusses a number of ways how this context menu can be changed.

ShellNewHandler is a useful tool to 'clean up' the 'New' context menu. Just download and run the application and deselect the options you do not need:

Search for 'regedit' in the windows search and open the Registration Editor. The relevant entries for the 'New' context menu can be found under 'HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT'.

Specifically, the relevant information should be under the key '.[filetype]/ShellNew'.

Set various values within this key to control the behaviour of the New context menu.

Adding a value with the name 'NullFile' (and no value) will create a new empty file for the extension if it's selected from the new context menu.
Adding a value 'FileName' with a value of a path to a file will use the pointed to file as a template for creating new files.