Explorer background context menu option missing

[JonathanLydall]

Windows Terminal version (or Windows build number)

1.7.1033.0

Other Software

Windows 10, 20H2 (19042.985)

Steps to reproduce

Right-click on background of folder in Windows Explorer.

Expected Behavior

An Open in Windows Terminal option to be available, like on other computers:

Actual Behavior

Missing option to Open in Windows Terminal:

I DO however get the context menu option when right-clicking on a folder:

I have tried uninstalling and re-installing the app from the Microsoft Store and while it will remove and re-add the folder context-menu, the background context-menu does not get added.

[zadjii-msft]

well that's weird, I could have sworn this was added in #8638, in 1.6. Judging by the comments in that thread, and in #8977, we even backported that feature to 1.5, so it should definitely be working...

[DHowett]

How did you install Terminal?

[JonathanLydall]

How did you install Terminal?

I installed it through the Microsoft Store app.

well that's weird, I could have sworn this was added in #8638, in 1.6. Judging by the comments in that thread, and in #8977, we even backported that feature to 1.5, so it should definitely be working...

Yep, seems weird to me too 🙂. I only knew about this as I saw the option on a different machine, then before logging the ticket, I installed it on a clean virtual machine to compare the behaviour and that works fine.

On the machine on which it's not working, I've tried uninstalling and re-installing the app and it unfortunately doesn't help.

I logged this issue because I don't know how to troubleshoot this further.

[pointydev]

I'm having a similar issue with 1.9.1445.0 (pre) on Windows 21390 (also present on 21387, don't remember past that). The context menu entry won't show at all, even if right clicking directly on a folder, however it works fine if I have the stable build installed SXS. This is the case with both Store and MSIX install methods.

[rejhgadellaabsl]

I can confirm that this still seems to be an issue on 1.10.2714.0 (stable), just installed WT and no "Open here..." context menu when I click inside a folder. I do get the option when I click on a folder entry.

[JonathanLydall]

It happens on my company computer, but not my personal. I can only think that maybe there is some policy applied by IT which is the cause of the issue.

Fortunately this is less of an issue since a recent set of updates to the company computer which fixed the folder context menu to pop up pretty much instantly whereas before it would take a couple of seconds.

[zadjii-msft]

Sorry to let this one hang on the backlog so long - @JonathanLydall, what version of the OS is your work machine running, still 19042.985? I think there were some OS-side changes that might have fixed this, but I don't recall what version they landed in.

[JonathanLydall]

Unfortunately my contract with that company has since ended so I don't have access to the computer any more. I can't recall the exact version it was running when I left (and it still had the issue), I think 20H2, but might have been 20H1.

[lursyy]

Same here. Unfortunately I cannot remember, but I think I originally installed WT via chocolatey, and then decided to uninstall and use the Store version instead, without any effect. I am using WT 1.12.10982.0 on Windows 10.0.19043 and happy to provide more info!

[lursyy]

(How) does this relate to #11839?

[zadjii-msft]

We suspect this may have gotten better with #14048 and #14211, in v1.15.2874. Then again, we are still seeing some reports of this in #14185. If this isn't happening any more for folks in this thread, we may want to close in favor of the new thread, to track any remaining issues with the new implementation. Sound good/?

[JonathanLydall]

No concerns with closing from my side. Since I moved on from the company with the computer with the issue, I haven't encountered it on my new work or my personal computer.

[lesleyrs]

I just had this happen to me after running winget uninstall Microsoft.PowerToys.

I'm not sure uninstalling powertoys is what caused it, but it seems likely. Windows 10.

Edit: re-installing windows terminal did not give me the context menu back... :(

[Zainzzkk]

I have the same. I cannot install from windows store so used Windows Package Manager CLI. I cannot see it in the context menu

[ne0-wu]

To me, the "Open in Windows Terminal" feature is only visible within the new context menu of Windows 11. It does not appear in the traditional context menu, regardless of whether I attempt to access it through the shift + right-click method or by disabling the new context menu to exclusively use the right-click approach.

[ne0-wu]

To me, the "Open in Windows Terminal" feature is only visible within the new context menu of Windows 11. It does not appear in the traditional context menu, regardless of whether I attempt to access it through the shift + right-click method or by disabling the new context menu to exclusively use the right-click approach.

Furthermore, the option only becomes visible in the new context menu after I perform a shift + right-click. However, it consistently disappears with every system reboot.

[xenobytezero]

I have still been having this issue with Win10, the solution for me (from #10496 (comment)) was to install with Scoop. Works for me there.

[rafalkk]

I have exactly the same problem as described in the 1st post. I think it happened after running winget upgrade --all.

I also had Microsoft.PowerToys installed as someone mentioned earlier.

[CodeGenStudio]

I have exactly the same problem as described in the 1st post. I think it happened after running winget upgrade --all.

I also had Microsoft.PowerToys installed as someone mentioned earlier.

I have done exactly both of these in my case - although I did get rid of PowerToys a while back.

EDIT: I did NOT mean to re-open this issue, just wanted to get this mentioned. @zadjii-msft please close if you deem fit.

[CodeGenStudio]

please close if you deem fit

No. dont. as has been mentioned by me and others ad nauseam, this is a valid and ongoing issue.

This issue is already referenced in another more accurate in it's problem description, what's the point of two of the same issues.

[3052]

your issue was already closed in favor of this one, please stop adding noise to this thread.

[CodeGenStudio]

your issue was already closed in favor of this one, please stop adding noise to this thread.

Oh my bad... I was typing on the wrong issue. Thought this was the one I started (came from gmail notification). Sincere apologies.

[ghost]

I have the exact same issue on my machine. I am running version 1.19.10302.0 of WT, which I installed by executing the msix package downloaded from the releases section. My Windows version is 10.0.19045.3930. I can see the option when I right click on a folder, but I don't see it when I right click on the folder background.

[3052]

reposting my fix from the other issue. first DON'T download the MsixBundle. instead just get the dumb zip file, like this:

https://github.com/microsoft/terminal/releases/download/v1.18.2822.0/Microsoft.WindowsTerminal_1.18.2822.0_x64.zip

extract to wherever, for example:

C:\terminal-1.18.2822.0

then save the below as INSTALL.REG:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\background\shell\terminal\command]
@="C:\\terminal-1.18.2822.0\\WindowsTerminal.exe"

and you can fix the starting folder like this:

{
   "profiles": {
      "defaults": {"startingDirectory": ""}
   }
}

done.