How to Enable Cascaded Context Menu in 7-Zip

By default, 7-Zip can populate the Windows Explorer right-click menu with multiple individual shortcuts, causing unnecessary clutter. Enabling the cascaded context menu groups all 7-Zip commands into a single, organized submenu. This guide provides a straightforward, step-by-step walkthrough on how to configure this setting within the 7-Zip File Manager to clean up your Windows context menu.

Steps to Enable Cascaded Context Menus

1. Open 7-Zip File Manager
   Press the Windows Key, type 7-Zip File Manager, right-click the application shortcut, and select Run as administrator to ensure settings can be saved properly to system registry files.

2. Access Options
   In the top menu bar, click on Tools and then select Options.

3. Navigate to the 7-Zip Tab
   In the Options window that appears, click on the 7-Zip tab at the top.

4. Enable the Cascaded Menu Option
   Ensure that the box next to Integrate 7-Zip to shell context menu is checked. Below that option, check the box labeled Cascaded context menu.

5. Customize Menu Items (Optional)
   In the same window, you can check or uncheck individual context menu items (such as Extract Here, Add to archive..., or Test archive) to decide which actions appear inside your cascaded menu.

6. Apply and Save
   Click the Apply button at the bottom right, then click OK to close the window.

Once completed, open Windows Explorer and right-click on any file or folder. All 7-Zip functions will now be grouped neatly under a single "7-Zip" expandable entry. On Windows 11, this option will appear inside the classic context menu accessed via "Show more options" (or Shift + F10) unless third-party shell modifications are used.