I noticed today that there is no longer a "Create new text document" option in my Windows 7 (x64 Ultimate) context menu when I right click. No idea how or when it disappeared, point is it's gone.
After searching Google for people with the same problem I tried following a post in this guide.
But I got stuck right away because I don't see a .txt key in my registry under HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT. I only see a .text but I am not sure if that is the same thing.
I gained access to another PC running Windows 7, a computer on which the context menu was intact. I peeked at the registry of this machine and copied exactly what was entered. Doing so resolved the problem on my desktop with the broken context menu.
Following all the instructions listed above, the two Strings within the .txt key that I needed were Content Type and PerceivedType.
So then to recap, if you are facing a similar issue, here is what I did to fix this problem. Hopefully it works for you as well.
(First backup the Registry.)
regedit.exeHKEY_CLASSES_ROOT and look for a .txt key. If none exist, create one. .txt key, create two new Strings: Content Type and PerceivedType.Default should be txtfile. Content Type should be text/plain.PerceivedType should be text.ShellNew within the .txt key. ShellNew key, create a new String with the name NullFile.ShellNew key, create a new Expandable String Value with the name ItemName.ItemName should be @%SystemRoot%\system32\notepad.exe,-470Here are two screenshots of what the final outcome should be:
Create a new file with the .reg extension, copy, paste, save and run.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
; clear the key
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.txt]
; and recreate
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.txt]
"PerceivedType"="text"
@="txtfile"
"Content Type"="text/plain"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.txt\ShellNew]
; @C:\Windows\system32\notepad.exe,-470
"ItemName"=hex(2):40,00,43,00,3a,00,5c,00,57,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,6f,00,77,00,\
73,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,6e,00,6f,\
00,74,00,65,00,70,00,61,00,64,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,2c,00,2d,00,34,00,\
37,00,30,00,00,00
"NullFile"=""
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.txt]
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.txt]
"PerceivedType"="text"
@="txtfile"
"Content Type"="text/plain"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.txt\PersistentHandler]
@="{5e941d80-bf96-11cd-b579-08002b30bfeb}"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.txt\ShellNew]
"ItemName"=hex(2):40,00,25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,\
6f,00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,\
00,6e,00,6f,00,74,00,65,00,70,00,61,00,64,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,2c,00,\
2d,00,34,00,37,00,30,00,00,00
"NullFile"=""
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\txtfile]
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\txtfile]
"EditFlags"=dword:00010000
@="Text Document"
"FriendlyTypeName"=hex(2):40,00,25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,\
00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,\
32,00,5c,00,6e,00,6f,00,74,00,65,00,70,00,61,00,64,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,\
00,2c,00,2d,00,34,00,36,00,39,00,00,00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\txtfile\DefaultIcon]
@=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,\
00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,69,00,6d,00,\
61,00,67,00,65,00,72,00,65,00,73,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,00,2d,00,31,\
00,30,00,32,00,00,00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\txtfile\shell]
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\txtfile\shell\open]
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\txtfile\shell\open\command]
@=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,\
00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,4e,00,4f,00,\
54,00,45,00,50,00,41,00,44,00,2e,00,45,00,58,00,45,00,20,00,25,00,31,00,00,\
00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\txtfile\shell\print]
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\txtfile\shell\print\command]
@=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,\
00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,4e,00,4f,00,\
54,00,45,00,50,00,41,00,44,00,2e,00,45,00,58,00,45,00,20,00,2f,00,70,00,20,\
00,25,00,31,00,00,00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\txtfile\shell\printto]
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\txtfile\shell\printto\command]
@=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,\
00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,6e,00,6f,00,\
74,00,65,00,70,00,61,00,64,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,20,00,2f,00,70,00,74,\
00,20,00,22,00,25,00,31,00,22,00,20,00,22,00,25,00,32,00,22,00,20,00,22,00,\
25,00,33,00,22,00,20,00,22,00,25,00,34,00,22,00,00,00
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\.txt]
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\.txt]
"PerceivedType"="document"
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.txt]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.txt]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.txt\OpenWithList]
"a"="NOTEPAD.EXE"
"MRUList"="a"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.txt\OpenWithProgids]
"txtfile"=hex(0):
Microsoft updates sometimes change permissions thereby killing acls for context features. After all these years it still happens to some of us.
Desktop-> mouse 2 -> New If not, see earlier posts and check/fix the registry (great stuff!).
If yes, but not inside folders, then
documents-> Mouse 2 -> NewMouse 2 -> Properties-> Security (Tab) -> <user name> -> Permissions for <user name> -> Allow (I recommend "Full Control" for yourself) -> Apply.I didn't need to reboot. I got this from a brainiac maniac in IT at work, hope this helps you too.
Just add the .txt key yourself and then make sure that the following string value is there:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.txt\ShellNew\NullFile
The shell will use it to decide which items to put on the 'New' menu.
Microsoft has a KB article about it here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/140333
If you're adding a brand new type (or fixing a broken one) you may need to add another entry to specify the text used. The default entry for the HKCR.txt should be 'txtfile'. Then make sure you have a HKCR\txtfile entry with default entry something like 'Text Document':
Close all instances of Explorer (ideally reboot) and that should work.
1. Click on HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT and look for a .txt in regedit.exe
2. Do export and (keep a copy as a backup) and copy paste the following code.
3. Finally import it as .txt . That's it. It works for me on Windows 10.
//credit goes to blackout1000 http://www.cnet.com/forums/discussions/no-new-text-document-thru-right-mouse-click-menu-52234/
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.txt]
"Content Type"="text/plain"
@="txtfile"
"PerceivedType"="text"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.txt\OpenWithList]
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.txt\PersistentHandler]
@="{5e941d80-bf96-11cd-b579-08002b30bfeb}"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.txt\shell]
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.txt\shell\open]
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.txt\shell\open\command]
@="notepad.exe %1"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.txt\ShellNew]
"NullFile"=""
(answer copied from https://www.tenforums.com/customization/184763-adding-notepad-right-click-new-menu.html) Working for me with Notepad++
if you just want to see an entry called "New" > "Notepad++ Document" in the context menu, then
start Notepad++ as Admin, and then go to Settings > Preferences > File Association and then select Notepad under 'Supported extensions', pick .txt and press the Right hand arrow to transfer it under 'Registered extensions'.
This will give you the context menu for New - Notepad++ Document. If you want to reverse the change, simply go through Notepad++ as Admin and move the .txt extension back to Notepad.
I had this same problem, and even though all the registry keys appeared to be correct, the option for a new Text Document stubbornly refused to appear.
Only after also adding an empty text file named empty.txt to my machine's \Windows\ShellNew folder, did the option show up for me. (The "empty" part of the name appears irrelevant -- Windows will look up the file type's friendly name in the registry. But the extension matters.)
Don't ask me why/how/when the file disappeared...or became required, if it wasn't already there at some point. But that last step is what made things work in my case.
Same problem, but all the keys had their correct values. I just changed the value of ItemName to
C:\apps\Notepad++\notepad++.exe,-470
(That is, using the path where I have Notepad++ installed), and it worked. All my other entries are back in the "New" sub menu.
Here's the correct version:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.txt]
@="txtfile"
"Content Type"="text/plain"
"PerceivedType"="text"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.txt\OpenWithList]
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.txt\OpenWithList\notepad.exe]
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.txt\PersistentHandler]
@="{5e941d80-bf96-11cd-b579-08002b30bfeb}"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.txt\ShellNew]
"NullFile"=""
i use windows10. i solved this way
I had the same problem and it happened after installing Notepad++. None of the mentioned solutions resolved this issue for me, however I was able to get it to work when I added the following to the Registry:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Notepad++_file]
@="Notepad++ Document"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Notepad++_file\DefaultIcon]
@="\"%1\""
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Notepad++_file\shell]
@="open"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Notepad++_file\shell\Edit]
@="&Edit"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Notepad++_file\shell\Edit\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Microsoft Office\\Office16\\msohtmed.exe\" %1"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Notepad++_file\shell\open]
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Notepad++_file\shell\open\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Common Files\\Microsoft Shared\\OFFICE16\\MSOXMLED.EXE\" /verb open \"%1\""
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Notepad++_file\shell\Print]
@="&Print"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Notepad++_file\shell\Print\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Microsoft Office\\Office16\\msohtmed.exe\" /p %1"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Notepad++_file\ShellEx]
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Notepad++_file\ShellEx\IconHandler]
@="{42042206-2D85-11D3-8CFF-005004838597}"
As explained in some of the other answers, Windows only allows a certain number of items in the right click New menu. So even if you have the .txt registry correct (as explained in the other answers), you may not see the Text Document entry in the New menu. Here's how to delete the extra entries.
File -> Export -> All. Click Save to make a backup of your registry in case anything goes wrong.
CTRL-F to Search and type in ShellNew.
F3 or Click Find Next.ItemName (or it may be named command or FileName)
Task Manager:
Documents folder). If you don't have permissions (e.g., in the root c:\ directory) you will see little if anything in the New menu.
Jan's answer is the most complete and accurate, however, as user Hightower mentioned, Windows limits the number of items that can appear in the "New" right click menu.
If you already have more than a few options...remove some that are already there. As soon as I removed the options for Word, Excel and Visio documents, sure enough, the Text Document option appeared.
My problem was that my "New → text file" didn't show up, but I had all the registers correct.
So I had to remove some programs from the list. Apparently Windows has a limit for how many programs to show there... I removed some Microsoft Office files I didn't use on a regular basis, and that worked for me.
