Remove VLC context menu entries from Windows Explorer When you right click on media files or folders you may see entries like “Add to VLC media player’s Playlist” and “Play with VLC media player.”. But when I right click on.mkv files the options 'Add to VLC media player's Playlist' and 'Play with VLC media player' still show up in the context menu. Unlike other cases I've read about, this doesn't happen when I right click on a folder or the recycle bin, only for.mkv files as far as I've seen.
Today, we will be showing you the steps to remove VLC options from the right-click menu. Window’s right-click menu might already be populated with options that you hardly ever use. One of them might be from the popular media player VLC. For example, the Play with VLC media player is one of the options that rarely comes into use. This is because I have already made it the default media player for all the audio and video files.
Similarly, Add to VLC media player Playlist option is equally unimportant for me. So rather than cluttering the context menu, it is much better to remove both of these options. If you echo my thoughts, then here are the steps to remove VLC options from the Windows context menu.
Remove Vlc From Context Menu
Do note that dealing with registry editor is often a dangerous task. A slight deviation and it might break your PC as well. Therefore, it is always recommended to create a restore point of your PC and have its complete backup. Technastic or any of its members will not be held responsible in any manner whatsoever if things go south or you make your PC inoperable.
Created the backup and ready to proceed ahead? Well then, here are the required instructions to remove VLC options from the Windows right-click (context) menu. On that note, also check out the steps to play YouTube videos in VLC media player.
Remove VLC from Windows Context Menu
You can’t just remove the VLC related shortcuts, but remove and add any item to the Windows context menu. Anyway, head over to the Start menu and type Registry Editor or even regedit should do it. When the editor launches, paste the below location in its address bar:
Now there are two ways of dealing with this. You could just delete this AddtoPlaylistVLC folder. This will remove the said VLC option from the Context menu. But if at any point in time you wish to get back this option, it might get be a slightly complicated process. Therefore the second and more viable option involves just disabling this option.
To do so right-click on the AddtoPlaylist folder and select New > String Value. Name it LegacyDisable and save it. You will no longer see the VLC’s Add to Playlist option in the context menu. To redo these changes, just delete the LegacyDisable file and the option will make its way back to the right-click menu.
Also Read: Add ‘Move to’ and ‘Copy to’ to Windows 10 Context Menu
There is one more way of dealing with this option. You could even hide it from the regular right-click and make it appear only when you press and hold the Shift key. Doing so is pretty easy. Right-click on the AddtoPlaylistVLC file and select New > String Value. Name this file as Extended. From now on, the said VLC option will only appear in the extended context menu.
The same set of rules applies to Play with VLC option. Inside the same shell folder, you will find the PlayWithVLC file. If you aren’t able to locate it, copy-paste the below location in the address bar of Registry Editor.
Right-click on the PlaywithVLC folder and select New > String Value and name it LegacyDisable to disable this VLC option from the context menu. To add it to the extended context menu, create a new string value file named Extended. In this case, you will now only be able to access said option when you press Shift while performing a right-click.
With that, we conclude this guide on how to remove VLC options from the Windows context menu. Which other option would you like to remove from the right-click? Do let us know and we will discuss its associated steps as well.
Vlc Context Menu
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