How to Remove Add to Favorites from Context Menu on Windows 11?

Microsoft first included the Favorites section in Windows 11 in build 22593. That is not a new section since Microsoft has just renamed Quick Access to Home in the File Explorer startup location. The Pinned files section gets renamed Favorites. If you do not want to add files to the Favorites section, the Add to Favorites Windows 11 context menu is useless, and you can uninstall it.

Your File Explorer will look something like this if you are running Windows 11 version 22H2:-

You will also see “Add to Favorites” in the context menu when you right-click on a file:-

How to Add or Remove Favorites from Home on Windows 11 File Explorer?

Follow these steps to add or remove Favorites from Home in Windows 11 File Explorer:-

Step 1. First, open File Explorer.

You can also use the Windows + E shortcut key from the keyboard.

Step 2. When File Explorer opens, steer to the folder where your files are stored.

Step 3. Then, select one or multiple files you need to add to Favorites.

Step 4. After that, right-click the selected file/files and choose to Add to Favorites in the context menu. Completing the above steps will pin the selected file/files to the Favorites section in the Home folder.

If you wish to remove the pinned items from the Favorites section in the Home folder, select file/files under the Favorites section and right-click on them. Then, in the context menu, opt for Remove from Favorites.Completing the above steps will remove the selected file/files from the Favorites section in the Home folder.

How to Remove “Add to Favorites” from Windows 11 Context Menu?

Follow these steps to remove “Add to Favorites” from the Windows 11 Context Menu:-

Step 1. First of all, open Registry Editor.

Step 2. When Registry Editor appears on your computer, navigate to the following key in the left sidebar:-

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\pintohomefile

Step 3. Then, right-click the pintohomefile key and select New > String value in the pop-up menu.Step 4. Next, name the newly created REG_SZ as ProgrammaticAccessOnly.Step 5. Finally, close the Registry Editor.

That’s it.

Next time you right-click on a file, you will see that the Add to Favorites entry is missing in the File Explorer context menu.Nevertheless, you will still be able to remove Favorites items from the Home folder in File Explorer.

If you need to display “Add to Favorites” in right-click menu, browse to the following key in the Registry Editor and delete the ProgrammaticAccessOnly REG_SZ entry on the right sidebar:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\pintohomefile

This way, you can fix the missing “Add to Favorites” in the right-click menu of Windows 11 File Explorer.

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