Disable Context Menus in the Start Menu in Windows 10

Starting in Windows 10 Build 17083, you can disable the context menus for apps and tiles in the Start menu for all users. There is a new Group Policy option that allows applying the restriction to the Start menu, so users won't be able to open the context menu for the Start menu items.

In Windows 10, the Start menu is completely different. It has nothing common with the its previous implementations. It is a Universal Windows Platform (UWP) app which combines the list of installed apps with Live Tiles and shortcuts pinned to the right pane.

Items in the Start menu come with a context menu which allows performing various actions like "Pin to taskbar", "Uninstall", and so on.

You can use Group Policy to disable or enable the context menus for apps and tiles in the Start menu. Even if your Windows 10 edition comes without the Local Group Policy Editor app, the feature can be configured with a Registry tweak. In this article, we will review both methods. We will start reviewing the Registry tweak method.

Ensure that you are signed in as Administrator before proceeding.

To disable context menus in the Start Menu in Windows 10, do the following.

1. Open Registry Editor.
2. Go to the following Registry key:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer

   Tip: See how to jump to the desired Registry key with one click.

   If you do not have such a key, then just create it.

3. Here, create a new 32-bit DWORD value DisableContextMenusInStart. Note: Even if you are running 64-bit Windows, you still need to use a 32-bit DWORD as the value type.
   Set it to 1 to disable the context menus.
4. To make the changes done by the Registry tweak take effect, you need to restart Windows 10.

Later, you can delete the DisableContextMenusInStart value to allow the user to use context menus in the Start menu in Windows 10.

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

Download Registry Files

Disable Context Menus in the Start Menu with a GUI

If you are running Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise, or Education edition, you can use the Local Group Policy Editor app to configure the options mentioned above with a GUI.

1. Press Win + R keys together on your keyboard and type:

   gpedit.msc

   Press Enter.

2. Group Policy Editor will open. Go to Computer Configuration \ Administrative Templates \ Start Menu and Taskbar. Enable the policy option Disable context menus in the Start Menu.

 

Note: It is possible to apply the restriction described above to the current user account only. In this case, create the value DisableContextMenusInStart under the key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer or configure the policy option under User Configuration \ Administrative Templates \ Start Menu and Taskbar in the Local Group Policy editor.

That's it.

Related articles:

• Remove Recently Added Apps From Start Menu In Windows 10
• How To Pin Settings to the Start Menu in Windows 10
• Add Items to All Apps in Start Menu in Windows 10
• How To Add User Folders To Start Menu In Windows 10
• Hide App List in Start Menu in Windows 10