You right-click a file and wait. A second, sometimes longer, before the menu fills in. Sometimes it says Loading. Sometimes nothing appears at all. So you click again, which never helps.
It is a small delay. It happens forty times a day. That is why it grinds on people far more than the length suggests, and why I would rather find your cause than tell you to live with it.
The usual answer is that Windows 11 is just like that. Some of it is. Most of it is something you installed, and this page works through both.
1. Find out whether it is one place or everywhere
Right-click on the desktop. Then in a folder full of documents. Then on a single file, then in a folder you have never opened.
Slow everywhere points at something loaded into every menu, which is rung two.
Slow only in certain folders, usually ones full of media or archives, points at a preview or scanning tool.
Slow the first time and quick afterwards is normal. Windows loads the pieces once per session.
The pattern matters more than the delay. A menu that is slow only on video files is a codec pack or a media player. A menu that is slow on everything is not.
2. The commonest cause is graphics software
Every program that adds an entry to your menu has to be asked before the menu can appear. One slow entry holds up everything.
⭐ Confirmed by an owner on Microsoft's Q&A boards in October 2023, and it is the only confirmed fix on that thread.
In his words: "In my case, I realized it was caused by the AMD option in the context menu. After removing it from the context menu, it went faster."
AMD's graphics software adds an entry by default. So does NVIDIA's. So do most archive tools, cloud clients and antivirus packages.
Ours, and marked as ours: the ones worth checking first are the ones you did not choose to add. Graphics control panels, cloud sync tools and archive managers put themselves there without asking, and most people never use those entries.
Look inside the software's own settings for an option about the context menu, which is where AMD's lives, rather than hunting through Windows.
3. Windows 11 hides the real menu behind another click
Not a fault. Worth knowing, because it doubles your clicks all day.
Windows 11 shows a short menu with Show more options at the bottom. The full menu sits behind that, with everything your software added.
⭐ Hold Shift and press F10 instead, or hold Shift while you right-click. Both open the full menu directly.
If what you actually miss is the old menu, that is a preference rather than a fault, and Shift+F10 gets it without changing anything on your system.
4. Right-click doing nothing at all on a laptop
Different fault to a slow menu. The cause is often not Windows at all.
Reported by advisers on Microsoft's boards: some owners found the touchpad's own right-click setting had been switched off.
In Settings, Bluetooth & devices, Touchpad, check the option for pressing the lower right corner of the touchpad to right-click.
Test with a real mouse first if you have one. Working with a mouse and failing on the touchpad settles the question in ten seconds, and sends you to the touchpad rather than to Windows.
If the touchpad is misbehaving in other ways too, a touchpad that is not responding covers it properly.
5. Restart Explorer before anything drastic
The menu is drawn by Windows Explorer. Explorer can get into a bad state without taking anything else with it.
Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc for Task Manager, find Windows Explorer in the list, right-click and choose Restart.
Your taskbar disappears for a second and comes back. Nothing is lost.
And if the whole machine drags rather than this one menu, what is really slowing it down starts by measuring.
Ours, and marked as ours: if this fixes it and it comes back within a day, that is real information. It means something is loading badly rather than being permanently broken, and rung two is where to look.
6. Check what is actually loaded
Want to see the list rather than guess? The entries live in the registry, under shell extension keys.
⛔ One warning first, from somebody who watched people get this wrong.
Reported by an adviser on that same thread: "Deleting registry entries without knowing why and the consequences is just terrible advice. Don't do it!"
Ours, and marked as ours: uninstall or reconfigure the software instead. Every entry belongs to a program, and removing it from that program's own settings is reversible. A deleted registry key is not.
7. When it really is Windows
I promised you both halves. This is the other one.
Reported by an adviser on the same thread, describing what he measured: "When I boot up, my right click is slow on desktop icons and folders up to 8 seconds. On average it's about 2.5 after I fist right click on an icon or folder. Windows 7 had no lag."
⚠️ That thread ran for four years and ended without a fix.
In July 2026 somebody arrived and wrote: "4 years later and why no solution for this? It is atrocious that such a simple command as right-clicking a file takes up to one second to populate a simple list."
A moderator replied that the thread would now be locked and the person should start their own.
Ours, and marked as ours: I am printing that because it sets your expectations honestly.
If you have removed the extra entries and restarted Explorer and it is still a second slow, you may be looking at the current state of Windows rather than a fault on your machine.
Status: written 22 August 2026. One owner confirmed removing graphics software from the context menu fixed his. The four year thread it sits on was locked without a general fix.
Why is my right click menu so slow in Windows 11?
Usually a third-party entry in the menu. Windows asks every program that added one before the menu can appear, so one slow entry holds up everything. Graphics software, archive tools and cloud clients are the usual ones. One owner confirmed removing AMD's entry fixed his.
How do I get the old right-click menu back?
Hold Shift and press F10, or hold Shift while you right-click. Both open the full menu directly instead of the short Windows 11 one with Show more options at the bottom. Neither changes anything on your system.
Should I delete registry entries to speed up right click?
No. An adviser on that four year thread put it bluntly: deleting registry entries without knowing the consequences is terrible advice. Every entry belongs to a program, so turn it off in that program's own settings, which is reversible.
Why does right click not work on my laptop touchpad?
Check the touchpad's own setting first, in Settings, Bluetooth and devices, Touchpad. Some owners found the option for pressing the lower right corner had been switched off. Testing with a real mouse settles which one is broken in about ten seconds.
The Short Version
- Right-click slow everywhere means something loaded into every menu, not Windows itself.
- One owner confirmed removing AMD's graphics entry from the menu fixed his.
- Shift+F10 opens the full menu directly, skipping Show more options.
- Restart Windows Explorer in Task Manager before trying anything drastic.
- Do not delete registry keys. Turn the entry off in the program that added it.
- Some residual slowness is Windows 11 itself, and a four year thread got locked, not solved.
Where to Next
Open your graphics software's settings and look for a context menu option. That is the one confirmed fix on this page and it takes two minutes.
If the touchpad is the thing failing rather than the menu, a touchpad that is not responding starts elsewhere. And if the whole machine drags rather than just this menu, what is really slowing it down measures two numbers first.
Was a specific program the culprit for you? Name it below and I will add it. A list of the usual offenders would help more than any registry tweak.
Isaac Smith is the founder and editor of PC Glance, a website that covers computers, laptops, and technology. He is a tech enthusiast and a computer geek who loves to share his insights and help his readers make smart choices when buying tech gadgets or laptops. He is always curious and updated about the latest tech trends.