On Windows File Explorer, I like to keep the New right-click context menu decluttered by removing most entries except those that I specifically want.
Thus, in the Registry, I delete (replacing “ext” and “TypeName” with the appropriate values for file extension and type name)…
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT.extShellNew
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT.extTypeNameShellNew
…keys for those entries that I do not want. This has always worked fine for me in the past.
However, I recently got a new Windows 10 computer, and there are four entries that I am trying to remove for which I cannot find any ShellNew key. They are:
- Office Open XML Document
- PPTX File
- PUB File
- XLSX File
These entries in the New context menu, if clicked on, respectively create:
- a 0-byte file with the default name “
New Office Open XML Document.docx” file-associated with WordPad - a 0-byte file with the default name “
New PPTX File.pptx” not file-associated with any application - a 0-byte file with the default name “
New PUB File.pub” not file-associated with any application - a 0-byte file with the default name “
New XLSX File.xlsx” not file-associated with any application
When I say “not file-associated with any application”, I mean that if you try to open the file, Windows displays the “How do you want to open this file” dialog box asking you to choose an application to open the file with.
There are no ShellNew keys or subkeys under
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT.docxHKEY_CLASSES_ROOT.pptxHKEY_CLASSES_ROOT.pubHKEY_CLASSES_ROOT.xlsx
I have gone further and searched the Registry for hours and cannot find any ShellNew key associated with these four New entries. What other possibilities are there for how these New entries are being created, and how can I get rid of these entries?
