Contextual Hell

July 14, 2009 3:27 PM

Can I reorder/remove items in contextual menus (right-click-menus) on the mac using an application/plugin/something similar?

I'd like to move some things out of the "more" sub-menu.

(screen shot)

posted by nam3d to computers & internet (6 comments total)

Well, sort of. There are three places from which contextual menu items are loaded:

/System/Library/Contextual Menu Items
/Library/Library/Contextual Menu Items
~/Library/Contextual Menu Items

The first are the "System" CMIs that are part of every OS install. They are active for every user.

The second are also considered "System" CMIs but other 3rd-party applications are allowed to install in this space. They are available to all users on the system.

The third is local to the currently logged in user and are active for only the currently logged-in user.

Their load is mostly determined by where they located in the system...which "Contextual Menu Items" location they are in. You could conceivably re-order these by moving them between "Contextual Menu Items" locations and then re-logging in. But I haven't tried this and am not 100% sure whether it'll work.

Removing a CMI is simply a matter of moving it out of one of the CMI locations.

All this is a fancy way of saying that you really should just install FinderPop and configure to your hearts content.
posted by mrbarrett.com at 4:09 PM on July 14

Are there corresponding items in your ~/Library/Contextual Menu Items folder, or your /Library/Contextual Menu Items folder? If so, just remove them.
posted by nicwolff at 4:10 PM on July 14

Edit: that second location should be:

/Location/Contextual Menu Items
posted by mrbarrett.com at 4:23 PM on July 14

Heh, he means /Library/Contextual Menu Items, not /Location/Contextual Menu Items, but otherwise that's your best answer.
posted by nicwolff at 4:35 PM on July 14

Coffee...must...find...coffee....Thanks for the correction(s). Heh.
posted by mrbarrett.com at 5:39 PM on July 14

You can also get rid of the "More" submenu if you're using Path Finder.
posted by WCityMike at 6:27 PM on July 14