The Winhelponline Blog

The Copy To Folder and Move To Folder options found in the Edit menu in Windows Explorer help you move or copy a file or folder easily to a different location. This functionality can also be added to the right-click menu in Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7, similar to Send To X PowerToy for Windows 95.

Although the options work fine when added to the context menu in Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7, you’ll note a glaring side-effect in Windows 2000 and Windows XP. The problem is that when opening multiple files from Windows Explorer, you’ll see the Copy To or the Move To dialog continuously popping up unnecessarily. As Raymond Chen notes in his Blog:

The "Copy to Folder" and "Move to Folder" options weren’t designed to be on the context menu. They were only meant to be placed in Explorer’s toolbar.

So far as I tested, this problem does not occur in Windows Vista and Windows 7. So, here is how to add the Copy To and Move To options to the context menu.

Add Copy To and Move To options to the context menu

Note: To automate the following, follow the instructions under section Registry fix below.

Click Start, type Regedit.exe and press ENTER

From the Edit menu, create a new key named Copy To.

Select the following branch:

Double-click (default) and set its Value data to:

Similarly, create a new key named Move To, in this branch:

Select the following branch:

Double-click (default) and set its Value data to:

Exit the Registry Editor.

REGISTRY FIX

To automate the above setting, download copytomoveto.zip and save it to the Desktop. Unzip the file and extract the contents to a folder. Double-click the file copytomoveto.reg to run it. This adds Copy To and Move To entries to the context menu for all files and directories. To remove the options, use the undo.reg file enclosed in the Zip file.

To move a file or folder to a different location, right-click on the file or folder and choose Move To Folder… Select the target folder in the Move Items dialog box.

Bookmark this Page!

Related Posts

• “Copy Target URL” Context Menu Option for Internet Shortcut (.Url) Files
• Copy Title and URL Menu Extension for Internet Explorer
• Copy Text File Contents to the Clipboard Using the Context Menu
• Add “Copy as Path” Option to the Context Menu in Windows XP
• Do Not Move Special Folders in Windows to the Root!
• Print Directory Listing to Clipboard From the Context Menu in Windows XP and Windows Vista
• Clear Recent Documents History in a Single Click in Windows XP and Vista
• Add “Go to Registry Key” To the Right-Click Menu in Internet Explorer
• BlockThisSite Menu Extension for Internet Explorer
• Using the Mouse to Copy Command Prompt Text to Clipboard

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to our RSS feed! We feature Tips, Troubleshooting information, Scripts and Utilities for Microsoft Windows Operating Systems!

Prefer an E-mail subscription?

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner