Installation

Installing needs administrator permission, because ContextShell adds itself to File Explorer for every user.

Uninstall Nilesoft Shell or iMA Menu first. They hook the same Explorer menu, and only one can be active at a time.

ContextShell can be installed in the following ways:

Installer (recommended)
Silent and managed installs
Portable

Please also note the following reference sections:

Command-Line Help
Keys to reload or disable ContextShell

Installer

Install

Download ContextShell-<version>-x64-setup.exe from the latest release. Use the arm64 file on Windows on ARM, or x86 on 32-bit Windows 10.

Run it and follow the steps. You can choose the install folder, Start menu and desktop shortcuts, and whether ContextShell checks for updates when you sign in. Setup adds ContextShell to File Explorer, which restarts Explorer for a moment.

ContextShell is installed to C:\Program Files\ContextShell\ unless you choose another folder.

Update

ContextShell Settings shows when a new version is available (Settings > Updates). You can also run a newer setup over the installed version. Your themes and menu settings are kept.

Uninstall

Open Windows Settings > Apps, find ContextShell and choose Uninstall. Or run the setup again and choose Uninstall.

Silent and managed installs

The setup EXE takes these options:

ContextShell-v1.9.21-x64-setup.exe /quiet

/quiet	No UI. The exit code is the Windows Installer result: 0 or 3010 means success.
/passive	Show progress only, no questions.
/uninstall	Remove ContextShell.
/repair	Repair the current install.
/log <file>	Write a verbose Windows Installer log.
/extract <dir>	Save the embedded MSI, for msiexec, Intune or Group Policy.
INSTALLFOLDER=<path>	Install location.
ADDSTARTMENU=0\|1	Start menu shortcut (default 1).
ADDDESKTOP=0\|1	Desktop shortcut (default 0).
AUTOUPDATE=0\|1	Check GitHub for updates at sign-in (default 1).

Each release also has a plain MSI that takes the same properties:

msiexec /i ContextShell-v1.9.21-x64.msi /qn AUTOUPDATE=0

Portable

Install

Download ContextShell-<version>-x64-portable.zip and extract it to a folder you'll keep.

Open an elevated command prompt, change to that folder, and run

Administrator: Command Prompt

shell -register -treat -restart

For further details, see the chapter Command-Line Help below.

Uninstall

Open an elevated command prompt, change to the folder, and run

Administrator: Command Prompt

shell -unregister -restart

Close all File Explorer windows before uninstalling, so Windows doesn't need a restart to release the files.

Command-Line Help

shell.exe in the install folder registers and unregisters ContextShell with File Explorer.

shell -[options]

Options

-register (-r)	Add ContextShell to File Explorer.
-unregister (-u)	Remove ContextShell from File Explorer.
-restart	Restart File Explorer.
-treat	Replace the Windows 11 compact menu with the full menu.
-silent (-s)	Don't show messages.
-?	Show this help.

Keys to reload or disable ContextShell

Hold these keys while you right-click (or press Shift+F10):

Ctrl Reload the configuration now. ContextShell also reloads by itself when a .nss file changes.
Win Show the Windows 11 compact menu this time.
Ctrl+Win Turn ContextShell off and use the classic Windows menu.