Classic Shell Reborn

The official download source for ShellExView is the NirSoft website at nirsoft.net/utils/shexview.html. ShellExView is a specialist — it focuses exclusively on shell extensions and gives you deep detail about each one. To update, download the latest version from our download section and extract it over the existing files. Run it as part of your provisioning process to disable bloatware shell extensions before the user logs in. If you uninstalled a program but its shell extension is still registered, that is a cleanup failure — disable or leave it disabled.

• One checkbox hides all built-in Windows extensions, letting you focus on third-party additions.
• Updates are rare but occasionally include support for new shell extension types introduced in major Windows updates.
• The tool reads all information directly from the local Windows registry and file system.
• This filters the list to only third-party extensions — the ones most likely to cause problems.
• The 32-bit version (shexview.zip, ~120 KB) runs on both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows but can only see 32-bit extensions.

ShellExView manages dynamic shell extensions — DLL files registered as COM objects that inject code into Explorer at runtime. Both tools are made by NirSoft and both deal with the right-click context menu, but they target different types of menu entries. This re-enables every extension in the list, including ones that were already enabled (pressing F8 on an enabled extension does nothing, so it is safe). If you change your mind, open ShellExView again, find the disabled entry (it will show “Yes” in the Disabled column), select it, and press F8 to re-enable it. The 64-bit version of ShellExView shows both types in a single list, so it gives you the most complete picture. However, some older applications install 32-bit extensions that run under the WoW64 compatibility layer.

Classic Shell

Re-enabling an extension removes that registry entry, restoring the original state. It reads shell extension data from the Windows registry and displays it. This is faster when you have many third-party extensions to test. The first thing most users do is hide built-in Windows extensions. This is the fastest way to group extensions by company or type. On a typical Windows 10/11 machine, you will see 200 to 400 registered shell extensions.

If Explorer crashes immediately when you open certain folders, the problem is likely a thumbnail or preview handler extension. Explorer crashes and the “Windows Explorer has stopped working” error are frequently caused by a faulty shell extension. Sort by Type and check how many “Icon Overlay Handler” entries are active.

Classic Shell Reborn.

A slow right-click menu is almost always caused by a shell extension that hangs while loading. The ZIP download includes only the executable and help file — nothing else. NirSoft publishes MD5/SHA hashes for every download on their site so you can verify file integrity.

For context menu slowness specifically, sort by Type, filter to payid casino “Context Menu” entries, and disable all non-Microsoft ones. If you run ShellExView without administrator rights, it will still open and display the list of shell extensions. ShellMenuView manages static context menu entries — simple registry-based shortcuts that appear in the right-click menu without running any code. This gives you a snapshot you can reference if you forget which extensions you disabled. If you need to restore all disabled extensions at once, press Ctrl+A to select everything, then press F8. Then in ShellExView, look at the “Microsoft Loaded” column — extensions with a recent timestamp were just loaded for that context menu.

Отзывы о программе Classic Shell

Use the 64-bit version (~140 KB) on modern Windows 10/11 systems and the 32-bit version (~120 KB) on older machines or for scanning 32-bit shell extensions specifically. ShellExView replaces that process with a simple list view that shows extension name, type, file path, company, version, and digital signature status. Each format captures all columns visible in the interface, including extension name, type, CLSID, filename, company, version, and status. The only traces ShellExView leaves on a system are the disable flags it writes for extensions you chose to disable. You can also download both versions directly from our download section, which links to the official NirSoft files. Both 32-bit and 64-bit versions are available as direct ZIP downloads with no installer or signup required.