Quentin Mayo

2026-03-23 – Adding “Open Claude Here” to the Windows Right-Click Menu

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If you’re using Claude Code regularly on Windows, one small quality-of-life improvement can make a huge difference: launching Claude directly from any folder via the right-click menu.

Instead of opening a terminal, navigating to a directory, and then running your command, you can simply right-click and go.

This guide shows how to add two options:

  • Open Claude here (when inside a folder)
  • Open Claude on folder (when right-clicking a folder)

Why This Matters

When you’re working across multiple projects, context switching becomes expensive. Every extra step—opening a terminal, navigating directories, running commands—adds friction.

By wiring Claude directly into the Windows context menu, you:

  • Reduce repetitive navigation
  • Speed up workflows
  • Keep focus on actual work instead of setup

It’s a small change, but it compounds quickly.

How It Works

Windows allows you to customize the right-click menu through the registry.

There are two key locations:

  • Directory\Background\shell → when you right-click inside a folder
  • Directory\shell → when you right-click a folder itself

We’ll add entries to both.

Step 1: Create the Registry File

Create a new file called:

claude-context.reg

Paste the following:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00; ============================
; Right-click inside a folder (background)
; ============================
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shell\OpenClaudeHere]
@="Open Claude here"
"Icon"="C:\\Windows\\System32\\cmd.exe"[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shell\OpenClaudeHere\command]
@="cmd.exe /k cd /d \"%V\" && claude --dangerously-skip-permissions"; ============================
; Right-click a folder itself
; ============================
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\OpenClaudeOnFolder]
@="Open Claude on folder"
"Icon"="C:\\Windows\\System32\\cmd.exe"[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\OpenClaudeOnFolder\command]
@="cmd.exe /k cd /d \"%1\" && claude --dangerously-skip-permissions"

Step 2: Apply It

Double-click the .reg file and accept the prompt.

That’s it.

What You Get

After applying:

  • Right-click inside any folder → Open Claude here
  • Right-click any folder → Open Claude on folder

Both will:

  1. Open a command prompt
  2. Navigate to the correct directory
  3. Run:
claude --dangerously-skip-permissions

Windows 11 Note

On Windows 11, these options may appear under:

Show more options

This is because Microsoft introduced a new context menu system, but classic registry entries still work perfectly—they’re just one click deeper.

Optional Improvements

Once you have this working, you can extend it further:

Use Windows Terminal instead of cmd

Replace:

cmd.exe /k ...

with something like:

wt.exe -d "%V" claude --dangerously-skip-permissions

Add a custom alias (cc)

If you’ve created a shortcut like:

cc → claude --dangerously-skip-permissions

Then your command becomes:

cmd.exe /k cd /d "%V" && cc

Add a custom icon

You can replace:

"Icon"="C:\\Windows\\System32\\cmd.exe"

with any .ico file path for a cleaner look.

Final Thoughts

This is one of those small automation tweaks that pays off immediately.

You’re not changing your workflow—you’re removing friction from it.

And if you’re doing a lot of local development, scripting, or AI-assisted coding, that friction adds up fast.

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