Windows 10: Delete and Cut missing from File Explorer Context Menu

My first post here. I searched here but could not find an answer, maybe someone can shed some light on this. I am trying to help an elderly friend who has run into a problem that neither of us can solve. I consider myself pretty savvy on computers, but this one has me stumped.

He called and said he could no longer delete unwanted files. I stepped though the normal steps of finding the file, right clicking on it, move down context menu, and then select Delete. However, here lies the problem. He has no Delete to select, nor does he have a Cut to select. I even had him try to select the file and use the "Red X" at the top menu bar, however, when he selects a file, the top menu bar switches from the Home to the File tab. When he selects the Home tab, the files he selected gets de-selected.

Hope I made this clearer than mud...sure could use some options to try.

Thanks

:)

 

Delete and Cut missing from File Explorer Context Menu

Now I know what advice I can give to people-scan for malware and virus. Your system still does not work-just restart your computer.

Seems like this is the consensus of anyone trying to help others.m I thought ot was going to be really hard because I do not know enough about computers until now.

 

Delete and Cut missing from File Explorer Context Menu

My first post here. I searched here but could not find an answer, maybe someone can shed some light on this. I am trying to help an elderly friend who has run into a problem that neither of us can solve.
I consider myself pretty savvy on computers, but this one has me stumped.

He called and said he could no longer delete unwanted files. I stepped though the normal steps of finding the file, right clicking on it, move down context menu, and then select Delete. However, here lies
the problem. He has no Delete to select, nor does he have a Cut to select. I even had him try to select the file and use the "Red X" at the top menu bar, however, when he selects a file, the top menu bar switches from the Home to the File tab. When he selects
the Home tab, the files he selected gets de-selected.

Hope I made this clearer than mud...sure could use some options to try.

Thanks

 

Hi, as no-one's thought of a brilliant answer yet, here's what I'd do. Losing these is- unusual.

Sure you could (eventually) import the relevant section of the registry from a working PC, if you could find it, but that's not trivial and if you have a problem like this, sthg else has probably been corrupted

So try a very good repair technique, one of the best features of Win 10 (I think):
Repair Install Windows 10 with an In-place Upgrade - Windows 10 Forums

This
- keeps all your programs and most settings
- creates Windows.old
- can take a long time, depending on your hardware (it's virtually a Windows installation)
- turns off system restore
- means you have to redo Win updates from November (perhaps total 3 or so)
- may mean you have to set up or Wifi connection again (if you have Wifi)

It's very useful to keep a bootable version of Win 10 for this and other reasons.

I recommend for safety that you create a disk image of what you have now BEFORE doing this, and maintain your disk image thereafter so you can quickly restore your PC to a working state without technical help.

E.g. Macrium Reflect (free) + its boot medium + large enough external storage.

Good luck.

 

To delete a file, select it by left clicking on it once. Then press the Del key.

That won't fix the missing context menu entries but will allow files to be deleted for now.

You could try Option Two here: Default File Type Associations - Restore in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Forums

Try the one for Folder, see if that helps.