Add Snipping Tool Context Menu in Windows 10

The Snipping Tool is a simple and useful application shipped with Windows by default. It was created specially for taking screenshots. It can create most types of screenshots - window, custom area or whole screen. It can be useful to integrate Snipping Tool into the context menu in Windows 10 to access it faster. Here is how.

In Windows 10 Creators Update, you can capture a screen region to the clipboard using the Snipping Tool app. This new feature is reviewed in detail here: How to Take a Screenshot of a Screen Region in Windows 10.

We can use this information and add a special context menu to the Desktop to open the Snipping tool app or go to the region capture mode directly.

Please sign in as Administrator before proceeding.

To add the Snipping Tool context menu in Windows 10, do the following.

Apply the Registry tweak listed below. Paste its contents inside Notepad and save as a *.reg file.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DesktopBackground\Shell\SnippingTool]
"MUIVerb"="@SnippingTool.exe,-101"
"SubCommands"=""
"Icon"="SnippingTool.exe"
"Position"="Bottom"


[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DesktopBackground\Shell\SnippingTool\Shell\1SnippingTool]
"MUIVerb"="@SnippingTool.exe,-101"
"Icon"="SnippingTool.exe"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DesktopBackground\Shell\SnippingTool\Shell\1SnippingTool\command]
@="SnippingTool.exe"


[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DesktopBackground\Shell\SnippingTool\Shell\2SnippingToolRegion]
"MUIVerb"="@SnippingTool.exe,-15052"
"Icon"="SnippingTool.exe"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DesktopBackground\Shell\SnippingTool\Shell\2SnippingToolRegion\command]
@="SnippingTool.exe /clip"

In Notepad, press Ctrl + S or execute the File - Save item from the File menu. This will open the Save dialog. There, type or copy-paste the name "Snipping tool.reg" including quotes.

Double quotes are important to ensure that the file will get the "*.reg" extension and not *.reg.txt. You can save the file to any desired location, for example, you can put it in your Desktop folder.

Double click the file you created, confirm the import operation and you are done.

The menu will use the language of your operating system, i.e. it will be translated automatically.

Right-click the Desktop file to check it in action:

You can enable the Snipping Tool context menu quickly with Winaero Tweaker. It comes with the following option:

You can download the app from here:

Download Winaero Tweaker

To save your time, I made ready-to-use Registry files. You can download them here:

Download Registry Files

That's it.

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