Giving your disk a frequent scrub is a good way to get rid of junk files, but Windows 11 doesn’t have a right-click option for it. Why not add one?
Windows 11’s Disk Clean-Up tool can help clean up unwanted data, which can take up gigabytes of hard drive space. Therefore, it’s a good idea to purge your junk files with the Disk Cleanup tool now and then.
When you right-click a drive in File Explorer, the context menu includes both Defragment and Format options… but there's no Disk Clean-Up option. And while it'd be great if Microsoft added it as an official feature, you can still add a Disk Clean-Up shortcut to the right-click menu with the methods below.
This method for adding Disk Clean-Up to the context menu involves manually editing the registry with Windows 11’s Registry Editor. If you don’t feel entirely comfortable about modifying the registry, you can set up a System Restore point beforehand. However, this registry tweak is a pretty basic one to apply. Just follow these steps exactly as outlined:
Now you can select the Disk cleanup option on the Local Disk icon’s classic context menu. Press Win + E, and select This PC in File Explorer. Right-click the Local Disk drive and select Show more options at the bottom of the context menu. Select Disk Cleanup on the classic context menu to open it.
If you decide you want to get rid of the option, you can delete the diskcleanup registry key to remove the Local Disk option from the context menu. Just return to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTDriveshell in the registry, right-click diskcleanup, and select Delete. Select Yes on the deletion confirmation dialog box.
Context Menu Tuner is freeware that lets you add many new options to the context menu. As such, if you're not fond of poking around within the registry, you can utilize this software to add a Disk Clean-Up command to the context menu instead.
Here is how you can add a Disk Clean-Up option to the right-click menu with Context Menu Tuner:
Once you're in, you can now use Context Menu Tuner to add a shortcut to Disk Clean-Up. Here's how:
You can now select the Clean-up option that’s now on the Local Disk icon's classic context menu. When you do, it opens the Disk Clean-Up tool. It also has a small icon by it, which is a nice touch you won’t get with the manual registry tweak method above.
You can add many other options to the right-click menus in Windows 11 much the same with Context Menu Tuner. Have a good look through what options are available in the Command column. You can even add custom options by selecting <Add Custom Item>.
Adding Disk Clean-Up to Local Disk’s context menu will give you a quicker way to open it. It’s a convenient shortcut for one of Windows 11’s more important tools. Selecting that context menu option to clear superfluous data every month will free up more storage space for new software and user files.
Jack has been a freelance tech journalist for more than a decade. He has covered Windows Vista, 7, 10, and 11 topics within a multitude of guides for MakeUseOf and numerous other websites.
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