Nilesoft Shell and ContextCleaner solve different problems. Nilesoft Shell is a free, open source (MIT) context menu customizer: you write a shell.nss config file to add, restyle, nest, and remove menu items, and it can change how the whole menu looks. ContextCleaner keeps the standard Windows menu and removes clutter from it: it scans the four places Windows builds the menu from, names the app behind each entry, and hides entries reversibly with a snapshot and 25-step undo, with no config language to learn. Pick Shell to redesign the menu; pick ContextCleaner to clean it safely.
Both are good tools. This page helps you choose based on what you actually want to change.
Remove right-click clutter in a list view, with a snapshot before every change.
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What is Nilesoft Shell?
From nilesoft.org and its GitHub repository:
- “Powerful, free, open source context menu manager,” MIT licensed, with about 6.9k stars on GitHub at the time of writing.
- Customize and extend: handpick items, add custom commands, sub-menus, menu items and separators, and launch apps, files, folders, or web pages from the menu.
- Modify or remove any context menu item added by the system or third-party software.
- Fully customize the appearance, with colors, glyphs, SVG and image icons, multiple columns, and complex nested menus.
- Plain text configuration: “All settings are loaded from config file shell.nss,” with an expression syntax, built-in functions, and predefined variables.
- Compatibility: Windows 7, 8, 10, and 11 on x86, x64, and arm64.
Its installation guide notes that “administrative permissions are required for installation,” and that you agree to restart File Explorer. It can be installed with the setup program, a portable copy registered with shell -register -restart, winget, Scoop, or Chocolatey. Uninstall reverses this with shell -unregister -restart.
What is ContextCleaner?
ContextCleaner is a paid, one-time purchase right-click menu editor for Windows 11 and Windows 10 22H2. From its product page:
- Scans four surfaces: classic commands, app add-ons (COM shell extensions), Windows 11 modern menu items including packaged and MSIX app entries, and the New submenu.
- Names the source of every entry: the app, DLL, or package, where it was found, which file types it covers, and whether it is built in.
- Stage, then apply, with a snapshot written before each apply and up to 25 undo and redo steps stored on disk.
- Reversible methods: entries marked hidden rather than deleted, add-ons put on a block list, New items renamed.
- Protected entries that File Explorer needs cannot be removed, even in bulk.
- One admin prompt per apply for machine-wide changes; none for per-user entries.
- No network, plus a hash-chained audit log of changes and a Ctrl+K command palette.
How do Nilesoft Shell and ContextCleaner compare?
| Nilesoft Shell | ContextCleaner | |
|---|---|---|
| Main job | Customize and extend the menu | Clean up the existing menu |
| How you work | Edit shell.nss config | List view with search and staging |
| Add your own commands | Yes, extensively | No |
| Change menu appearance | Yes: colors, icons, columns, nesting | No, keeps the Windows look |
| Remove or hide existing items | Yes, via config | Yes, across four surfaces |
| Shows which app added each entry | Not its focus | Yes: app, DLL, or package |
| Undo | Edit the config or unregister | Snapshot plus 25-step undo and redo |
| Protects entries Explorer needs | Your config decides | Built-in protection |
| Install | Admin required; restarts Explorer | Microsoft Store; admin only for machine-wide changes |
| Windows support | 7, 8, 10, 11 | Windows 11 and Windows 10 22H2 |
| Price | Free, MIT license | One-time purchase |
When is Nilesoft Shell the better choice?
Choose Shell if you want any of these:
- Your own commands. “Open terminal here as admin,” “Copy path as forward slashes,” or a sub-menu of your favorite folders.
- A different look. Icons, colors, columns, and nested menus that the stock menu cannot do.
- Configuration as code. A text file you can version, share, and copy between PCs.
- Free and open source. No cost, MIT license, active community.
- Older Windows. It supports Windows 7 and 8.
If you enjoy tuning a config file, Shell gives you far more control than ContextCleaner does.
Know which app added every right-click entry before you hide it.
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When is ContextCleaner the better choice?
Choose ContextCleaner if:
- You want the standard menu, just shorter. No new look, no new syntax.
- You do not know what added an entry. ContextCleaner shows the app, DLL, or package behind every row, including Windows 11 packaged entries that registry tools miss.
- You need to undo easily. Snapshots and 25 on-disk undo steps mean a bad change is one click from fixed.
- You manage other people’s PCs. Protected entries, one admin prompt per apply, and an audit log make changes defensible.
- You prefer not to add another File Explorer extension. Shell describes itself as “an extension of Windows File Explorer.” ContextCleaner changes the registrations Windows already uses, in reversible ways.
Can I use both?
You can, but be careful about who owns what. If Shell is controlling the menu, ContextCleaner’s changes to the underlying Windows registrations may not be what you see on screen, and the reverse. A sensible order:
- Start with ContextCleaner to remove entries from apps you no longer want in the menu, at the source.
- Then add Shell if you also want custom commands or a new look.
- Keep notes of which tool made which change, so you know where to undo.
If you only want one tool, choose by the question you are asking: “How do I make my menu do more?” points to Shell; “How do I make my menu show less?” points to ContextCleaner.
How do I clean the menu with ContextCleaner?
- Install ContextCleaner from the Microsoft Store and open it.
- Let it scan all four surfaces.
- Sort by source to see which apps add the most entries.
- Stage entries to hide and review the pending list.
- Apply. A snapshot is written first; approve the single admin prompt if machine-wide entries are included.
- Right-click in Explorer to check, and undo anything you miss.
Frequently asked questions
Is Nilesoft Shell safe?
It is open source under the MIT license, so its code is public. It needs administrator rights to install and restarts File Explorer. Download it from nilesoft.org or a package manager it lists.
Can ContextCleaner add new right-click commands?
No. It is built for finding and removing entries. For new commands, use Shell or the app’s own options.
Does ContextCleaner change how the menu looks?
No. It keeps the Windows look and only removes entries.
Does ContextCleaner work on Windows 10?
Yes, on Windows 10 22H2. You see fewer modern and packaged entries because that surface is a Windows 11 feature.
Try ContextCleaner
Get ContextCleaner from the Microsoft Store. Compare it with other editors in ContextCleaner vs Easy Context Menu and ContextCleaner vs ShellExView and ShellMenuView.
A shorter right-click menu, with every change reversible.
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Microsoft, Windows, and File Explorer are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. Nilesoft Shell is the work of its developers. Other product names are trademarks of their owners. ContextCleaner is not affiliated with or endorsed by any of them.
Last updated 17 October 2026. Published by Automata Labs, a software company in Canada.