Windows 10: Open Context Menu for Taskbar Icons in Windows 10

How to: Open Context Menu for Taskbar Icons in Windows 10


Information A context menu is a menu in a graphical user interface (GUI) that appears when you right-click on an item in Windows. A context menu offers a limited set of choices that vary depending on the item you right clicked on.

Icons on the taskbar have an immersive (more modern) context menu and the classic context menu available.

This tutorial will show you how to open the immersive and classic context menu for icons on your taskbar in Windows 10.

CONTENTS:

• Option One: To Open Immersive Context Menu for Taskbar Icons
• Option Two: To Open Classic Context Menu for Taskbar Icons
• Option Three: To Open Classic Context Menu for Taskbar Icons using Keyboard

OPTION ONE [/i] To Open Immersive Context Menu for Taskbar Icons
1. Right click or press and hold on a taskbar icon (ex: File Explorer) you want to open its Jump List. (see screenshot below)



2. Press and hold the Shift key, right click on the taskbar icon's name (ex: File Explorer) at the bottom of the Jump List, and release the Shift key. (see screenshot below)

3. You can now click/tap on the context menu item you want.







OPTION TWO [/i] To Open Classic Context Menu for Taskbar Icons
1. Press and hold the Shift key, right click on the taskbar icon (ex: File Explorer) you want, and release the Shift key. (see screenshots below)

2. You can now click/tap on the context menu item you want.
(If icon has an opened window)





(If pinned icon doesn't have an opened window)






OPTION THREE [/i] To Open Classic Context Menu for Taskbar Icons using Keyboard
1. Press the Win + T keys to go to the taskbar, use the left and right arrow keys to select the taskbar icon (ex: File Explorer) you want, and press the Shift+F10 keys to open its context menu. (see screenshots below)

2. You can now use the up and down arrow keys to select the context menu item you want, and press Enter to perform the action of the context menu item.
(If icon has an opened window)





(If pinned icon doesn't have an opened window)



That's it,
Shawn


Related Tutorials

• How to Enable or Disable Taskbar Context Menus in Windows 10

:)

 

Feature suggestion: Add right-click menu

Suggestion: Please add a Windows 7 Jump-List and/or right-click menu to the GPU-Z icon in the Windows taskbar. Possible menus in it would be "Exit" and "About GPU-Z...".
Maybe also "Switch to tab 1/Switch to tab 2/Switch to videocard 1/Switch to videocard 2" too.
Examples of programs that have such menus are ICQ, Skype, AIM.

NOTE: It seems for a right-click menu, Windows 7 is not needed - it works on WinXP and Vista too.
But even a Windows 7 Jump-list may be good enough.
What do you think?

 

No context menu for Excel icon (on pinned icon to taskbar)

Hi,

I have a Windows 10 and Office 2013. Everything was working fine with pinned icons until very recently. I was pinning some documents to the context menu (right click) and after that the context menu stopped to show at all - but only for one icon, which is
MS Excel icon (shortcut). Could you please let me know what I can do to fix it? Every other right-click is working perfectly and all context menus are opening for every other pinned icons.

Regards

 

Taskbar hides and shows itself after opening start menu.

Steps:

1. Using HDMI for a second monitor.
2. Open start menu using the icon.
3. Close start menu using the icon.
4. Click anywhere other than the task bars. (e.g. an open window, the desktop, even the first monitor's desktop)
   
5. Taskbar on second monitor slides down to be hidden.
6. Taskbar then immediately slides up to reappear.

If after closing the start menu (step 3), you click on the taskbar, then click outside the taskbar, this behavior does not occur.

Performing the steps on the main monitor's taskbar does not produce this behavior.

This has been happening for as long as I can remember using this laptop (~3years), with different nVidia drivers and Windows 10 updates.

 

Context Menu "Open with" freeze

This problem annoyed me for a week

3 related issues:

• context menu works fine, and all submenus open well such as "view" and "sort by", except "Open with":
  • when i hover on "Open with", Windows Explorer freezes and i have to restart it in Task Manager
  • some files won't even let me open context menu, they just freeze Windows Explorer
    
• image thumbnails and sometimes taskbar icons disappear or become
  blank icons of paper (refresh doesn't work):
  • when i try to upload an image to any website (Facebook or Steam) i can't see which blank piece of paper to choose
• cannot access "Personalisation" or "Accounts" in system settings:
  • when i try to change my desktop background or change my account profile picture, "Settings" app freezes and i have to end task in Task Manager

Solutions i have tried:

• AdwCleaner
• disabling 3rd party programs in ShellExView
• clean boot
• safe mode boot
• elevated cmd
  • Sfc /scannow
  • thumbnail cache clear
• PC reset

Nothing worked

Windows 10 Home 64-bit

8gb RAM

Intel Core i7 4700MQ

Intel HD Graphics 4600

Toshiba Satellite P75-A7100

 

Consolidate context menu styles

The style for context menus need to be consolidated. There are current three different styles:

• Right-click on an empty region of the taskbar: you will get a black context menu with a light border and no icons, which fades in and out.
• Right-click on a taskbar app button: you will get a black context menu without border but with monotone icons, which slides in and out from the bottom.
• Right-click on the desktop and most other places: you will get a bright-grey context menu with coloured icons, which fades in and out.

Like I said, there is no need to maintain three different styles for a visual element that is the result of three identical user interactions, only in different places. These three styles come with a virgin installation of Windows 10, which can make it confusing
to new and upgraded users why the colour and such is suddenly different for essentially the same 'thing'.

To reiterate, differences in:

• Background colour
• Text colour
• Border style
• Hide- and show animation
• Coloured icons, monotone icons, or no icons

Why not make these the same for every context menu? It's easier to maintain (for Microsoft devs) and easier on the user experience (for your valued customers).