How to remove directory context menu added by Visual Studio 2017?

Question

I have installed Visual Studio Community 2017 RC on Windows 10.
After installing, it added a new context menu when right clicked on any directory.

I want to remove this option, but can't seem to find it from VS2017 settings.

Answer 1

This answer is originally from here, and I am just reproducing it here for sake of brevity.

Use the Windows Registry editor to delete two keys:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shell\AnyCode
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\AnyCode

You may want to back up your registries before going for a delete operation, just a good practice.

Answer 2

Run regedit.exe, go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shell\AnyCode, take ownership of this key, change the permisions for your account and add a DWORD (32Bit) with the name HideBasedOnVelocityId and set the value to 006698a6 (hex):

When you now do a rightclick the entry is gone:

Delete entry or rename it to ShowBasedOnVelocityId to enable the entry again:

Answer 3

From Bryson Gibbons on the Microsoft Forums:

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Another option, if you don't want to just delete it or can see it being sometimes useful but don't want it cluttering up the context menu, is to move it to the extended context menu (where it is only visible with Shift+Right-click).

Using the Windows Registry editor, add a new string value under each of the following keys, with the name "Extended":

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shell\AnyCode
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\AnyCode

You should then see the following contents when either of the above registry keys are selected:

Name        Type     Data
(Default)   REG_SZ   @C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\MSEnv\1033\\VSLauncherUI.dll,-1002
Extended    REG_SZ

After doing this you will only see "Open in Visual Studio" on folders/directories when you hold down shift, then right click.

Answer 4

You can use ShellMenuView to find this context menu entry and disable it.

1. Download the program for your OS (32 or 64 bit) and run the shmnview.exe executable.
2. Find in the list something that has to do with Visual Basics and seems to be this entry. (You can sort the list by File Type and look on the entries under with file type Directory)
3. Right-click that entry and select Disable Selected Items.

Answer 5

Based on the answer by @Blaze:

Instead of searching for keys with the registry editor, just copy this into an empty file with a .reg file extension and execute that file to delete the keys.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shell\AnyCode]
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\AnyCode]

Answer 6

None of the solutions worked for me... So I opened the Registry Editor, go to menu Edit > Find... And enter the name you want to find Open in Visual Studio (or simply Visual Studio if you want a broader search)... Click Find Next and keep pressing F3 until you find the desired key...

In my computer, it was found in:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\MuiCache\9a3\52C64B7E

There was a value name

@C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\MSEnv\1055\\VSLauncherUI.dll,-1002

with value data

&Open with Visual Studio

So just erase it (but make sure to backup your registry before doing that, just in case)