Edit with Notepad++ context menu missing from Windows 11

[davidtrevor23]

I am missing the “Edit with Notepad++” option from the (new Windows 11) right click context menu. Check out the screenshot below:

From another computer I know that this option was added to Windows 11 a year ago so it should be present.

The computer that is having the problem is a Windows 11 machine that was inplace upgraded from Windows 10. I have uninstalled Notepad++ with the option to remove all personal settings. I then reinstalled Notepad++ but the option is still missing from my context menu. Is this expected behavior? Can I manually fix this?

Notepad++ v8.6.8 (64-bit)
Build time : Jun 4 2024 - 00:30:00
Path : C:\Program Files\Notepad++\notepad++.exe
Command Line :
Admin mode : OFF
Local Conf mode : OFF
Cloud Config : OFF
Periodic Backup : ON
OS Name : Windows 11 Enterprise (64-bit)
OS Version : 22H2
OS Build : 22621.3737
Current ANSI codepage : 1252
Plugins :
ComparePlugin (2.0.2)
mimeTools (3.1)
NppConverter (4.6)
NppExport (0.4)

[PeterJones]

@davidtrevor23 ,

Have you rebooted since you re-installed?

When you re-installed, it should have created a directory C:\Program Files\Notepad++\contextMenu\, with NppShell.dll and NppShell.msix files. Under normal circumstances, the installation process is supposed to “register” that DLL with the OS, though sometimes it takes a reboot for that registration to be effective.

If you have that directory, but even after a reboot, you don’t have the Windows context menu entry, then see if the “Manual Registration ” instructions in the User Manual help.

After it’s been installed and you’ve rebooted, the following registry search should show an entry for NppShell.dll, as in this example:

> reg query HKLM\SOFTWARE\classes /s /f NppShell.dll

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\classes\CLSID\{B298D29A-A6ED-11DE-BA8C-A68E55D89593}\InProcServer32
    (Default)    REG_SZ    C:\Program Files\Notepad++\contextMenu\NppShell.dll

End of search: 1 match(es) found.

[davidtrevor23]

@PeterJones I first tried restarting explorer.exe, then I rebooted the system. But the entry is still missing. I can confirm the existence of the contextMenu folder and the two NppShell files.

When running…
regsvr32 /i NppShell.dll

… I get the error message: The module “NppShell.dll” was loaded but the entry-point DllInstall was not found. Make sure that “NppShell.dll” is a valid DLL or OCX file and then try again.

The command…
regsvr32 NppShell.dll

… returns a success message instead: DllRegisterServer in NppShell.dll succeeded.

The registry entry is present

reg query HKLM\SOFTWARE\classes /s /f NppShell.dll
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\classes\CLSID{B298D29A-A6ED-11DE-BA8C-A68E55D89593}\InProcServer32
(Default) REG_SZ C:\Program Files\Notepad++\contextMenu\NppShell.dll
End of search: 1 match(es) found.

However after another reboot I am not getting the entry in the Windows 11 context menu (the entry in the old Windows 10 menu is still functioning as expected). Anything else I can check?

[Ekopalypse]

@davidtrevor23

maybe this article helps?

[davidtrevor23]

I have overwritten the Pin function now because I was not able to get it to work with the other workarounds mentioned on the manuals page.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes*\shell\pintohome]
“MUIVerb”=“Edit with Notepad++”

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes*\shell\pintohome\command]
@="“C:\Program Files\Notepad++\notepad++.exe” “%1"”