Shell Alternatives

Shell is described as 'Context menu extender that lets you handpick the items to integrate into Windows File Explorer context menu, create custom commands to access all your favorite web pages, files, and folders, and launch any application directly from the context menu' and is an app in the os & utilities category. There are more than 10 alternatives to Shell for Windows, File Explorer and Web-based. The best Shell alternative is Easy Context Menu, which is free. Other great apps like Shell are FileMenu Tools, ShellExView, ShellMenuView and Right Click Enhancer.

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Shell alternatives are mainly Shells but may also be Application Launchers or Shell Extensions. Filter by these or use the filter bar below if you want a narrower list of alternatives or looking for a specific functionality of Shell.

Shell

Shell Extension
Free • Open Source

Shell is a context menu extender that lets you handpick the items to integrate into Windows File Explorer context menu, create custom commands to access all your favorite web pages, files, and folders, and launch any...

More about Shell

Shell alternatives page was last updated Feb 13, 2024

Easy Context Menu
Easy Context Menu enables you to add a variety of useful commands and tweaks for the Desktop, My Computer, drives, file and folder context menus. It helps in accessing most used windows components quickly and easily, it doesn’t get much easier than to check some boxes and set up...
15 Easy Context Menu alternatives
License model
- Free • Proprietary
Platforms
- Windows
- Windows Explorer
+1
Easy Context Menu Features
1. Manage system menu options
2. Add custom command options
3. Windows Explorer Extension
4. Customizable
5. Context Menu extension
6. Adds icons to context menu
Show all NaN Easy Context Menu features ▾
Discontinued
The latest major version is from 2015.
Easy Context Menu VS Shell
Is Easy Context Menu a good alternative to Shell?
- Easy Context Menu is the most popular Windows alternative to Shell.
- Easy Context Menu is the most popular free alternative to Shell.
- Easy Context Menu is Free and ProprietaryShell is Free and Open Source

FileMenu Tools
FileMenu Tools lets you customize the context (right-click) menu of Windows Explorer. The application adds built-in utilities to perform operations on files and folders and adds customized commands that let users run external applications, copy/move to a specific folder or...
48 FileMenu Tools alternatives
License model
- Freemium • Proprietary
Application types
- Shell
- Shell Extension
Platforms
- Windows
- Windows Explorer
+9
FileMenu Tools Features
1. Portable
2. Windows Explorer Extension
3. Context Menu
4. Customize Windows
5. Timestamps
6. Folder Sync
7. Change File Dates
8. Multiple languages
9. Symbolic links
Show all NaN FileMenu Tools features ▾
FileMenu Tools VS Shell
Is FileMenu Tools a good alternative to Shell?

ShellExView
Shell Extensions are in-process COM objects which extends the abilities of Windows operating system. Most shell extensions are automatically installed by the operating system, but there are also many other applications that install additional shell extension components.
11 ShellExView alternatives
License model
- Free • Proprietary
Application type
- Shell
Platforms
- Windows
- Windows Explorer
ShellExView Features
Windows Explorer Extension
Context Menu
Performance overview
Show all NaN ShellExView features ▾
ShellExView VS Shell
Is ShellExView a good alternative to Shell?

ShellMenuView
ShellMenuView is a small utility that display the list of static menu items that appeared in the context menu when you right-click a file/folder on Windows Explorer
14 ShellMenuView alternatives
License model
- Free • Proprietary
Application type
- Shell
Platforms
- Windows
ShellMenuView Features
Portable
Show all NaN ShellMenuView features ▾
ShellMenuView VS Shell
Is ShellMenuView a good alternative to Shell?

Right Click Enhancer
Right Click Enhancer gives you power to control the right click menu everyone uses. Right Click Enhancer allows yo to edit your right click menu in the way you want. Now with help of this wonderful tool you can add some good stuffs to your right click context menu.
16 Right Click Enhancer alternatives
License model
- Freemium • Proprietary
Application type
- Shell
Platforms
- Windows
Right Click Enhancer Features
Portable
Show all NaN Right Click Enhancer features ▾
Right Click Enhancer VS Shell
Is Right Click Enhancer a good alternative to Shell?

Winaero Context Menu Tuner
Context Menu Tuner is an application which allows you to customize Explorer's context menu in Windows 10, Windows 7, 8 and 8.1.
14 Winaero Context Menu Tuner alternatives
License model
- Free • Proprietary
Platforms
- Windows
Winaero Context Menu Tuner Features
Portable
Show all NaN Winaero Context Menu Tuner features ▾
+1
Winaero Context Menu Tuner VS Shell
Is this a good alternative to Shell?

Lammer Context Menu
Lammer Context Menu is an extension for Microsoft Windows Explorer with very handy features like:
9 Lammer Context Menu alternatives
License model
- Free • Proprietary
Platforms
- Windows
- Windows Explorer
+1
Lammer Context Menu Features
1. Windows Explorer Extension
2. Batch Rename Files
3. Hex Editor
4. Context Menu
5. Search and Replace
Show all NaN Lammer Context Menu features ▾
Discontinued
The official website is no longer available. Last version, 1.0.3.19, released in July 2015, can be still downloaded from weDev4you.com
Lammer Context Menu VS Shell
Is Lammer Context Menu a good alternative to Shell?

Ultimate Windows Context Menu Customizer
Ultimate Windows Context Menu Customizer is a freeware from door2windows that allows you to customize the context menu of many locations with ease in Windows
13 Ultimate Windows Context Menu Customizer alternatives
License model
- Free • Proprietary
Platforms
- Windows
Ultimate Windows Context Menu Customizer Features
Manage system menus options
Context Menu
Customize Windows
Configurable
Show all NaN Ultimate Windows Context Menu Customizer features ▾
Ultimate Windows Context Menu Customizer VS Shell
Is this a good alternative to Shell?

Fast Explorer
Fast Explorer is a handy Windows shell context menu editor that allows you to add new menu items, cascaded menus, customize menu bitmaps and hint text, and even clean up context menu items and remove shell extensions of files and folders.
12 Fast Explorer alternatives
License model
- Free • Proprietary
Application type
- Shell
Platforms
- Windows
- Windows Explorer
Fast Explorer Features
Windows Explorer Extension
Context Menu extension
Context Menu
Show all NaN Fast Explorer features ▾
Discontinued
The official website is no longer available. Last version, 3.1.11.430, released in August 2008, can be still downloaded from SoftPedia
Fast Explorer VS Shell
Is Fast Explorer a good alternative to Shell?

OpenWith Enhanced
OpenWith Enhanced is a small freeware application which replaces the standard Windows 'Open With...' window with an improved comprehensive yet intuitive dialog box.
34 OpenWith Enhanced alternatives
License model
- Free • Proprietary
Application type
- Application Launcher
Platforms
- Windows
OpenWith Enhanced Features
Launcher
Show all NaN OpenWith Enhanced features ▾
+1
OpenWith Enhanced VS Shell
Is OpenWith Enhanced a good alternative to Shell?

ShellMenuNew
ShellMenuNew is a small utility that displays the list of all menu items in the 'New' submenu of Windows Explorer. It allows you to easily disable unwanted menu items, so this 'New' submenu will display only the items that you need.
7 ShellMenuNew alternatives
License model
- Free • Proprietary
Application type
- Shell
Platforms
- Windows
ShellMenuNew Features
Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
Portable
Context Menu
Show all NaN ShellMenuNew features ▾
ShellMenuNew VS Shell
Is ShellMenuNew a good alternative to Shell?

Open++
Open++ is a context menu shell extension that allows you to quickly open the target file or folder with the customized commands. It adds a submenu with customized menu items to the shell context menu when right clicking a file or folder.
5 Open++ alternatives
License model
- Free • Proprietary
Platforms
- Windows
- Windows Explorer
Open++ Features
Windows Explorer Extension
Show all NaN Open++ features ▾
Discontinued
Official website unavailable.
Open++ VS Shell
Is Open++ a good alternative to Shell?