VSCode Windows 11 "Open with Code" Context Menu

README.md

VSCode Windows 11 "Open with Code" Context Menu

Unofficial workaround to restore / enable "Open with Code" in Windows 11 Explorer context menu for VSCode.

Reference:

• microsoft/vscode#183297 (comment)
• copy of the github discussion

Disclaimer: This is an unofficial method. It is not supported by Microsoft or VSCode maintainers. Use at your own risk.

---

Install

Run in PowerShell:

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -c "irm https://gist.github.com/sunfkny/b23293c837cb8f653fda290fd2bb8870/raw/install.ps1 | iex"

Uninstall

Run in PowerShell:

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -c "irm https://gist.github.com/sunfkny/b23293c837cb8f653fda290fd2bb8870/raw/uninstall.ps1 | iex"

Notes:

Requires Windows 11
Requires VSCode installed in default path
May require restart of Explorer (explorer.exe)
Developer Mode may be required during install

install.ps1

Set-StrictMode -Version Latest
$ErrorActionPreference = "Stop"

function Get-LocalizedTitle {
    $Lang = [System.Globalization.CultureInfo]::CurrentUICulture.Name

    switch -Regex ($Lang) {
        '^zh-' {
            # avoid powershell 5 mojibake
            return [System.Text.Encoding]::UTF8.GetString([byte[]](
                    0xE9, 0x80, 0x9A, 0xE8, 0xBF, 0x87, 0x20,
                    0x43, 0x6F, 0x64, 0x65, 0x20,
                    0xE6, 0x89, 0x93, 0xE5, 0xBC, 0x80
                ))
        }
        default { return "Open with Code" }
    }
}

$Title = Get-LocalizedTitle

$Version = "3.0.4"

$OsArch = [System.Runtime.InteropServices.RuntimeInformation]::OSArchitecture.ToString().ToUpperInvariant()

$ArchMap = @{
    "X64"   = "x64"
    "X86"   = "x86"
    "ARM64" = "arm64"
}

$Arch = $ArchMap[$OsArch]

if (-not $Arch) {
    throw "Unsupported architecture: $OsArch"
}

$ZipName = "code_explorer_${Arch}.zip"
$DownloadUrl = "https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-explorer-command/releases/download/$Version/$ZipName"

$VsCodeInstallPath = Join-Path $env:LOCALAPPDATA "Programs\Microsoft VS Code"

if (-not (Test-Path $VsCodeInstallPath)) {
    throw "VSCode installation not found: $VsCodeInstallPath"
}

$ShellPath = Join-Path $VsCodeInstallPath "shell"
$ZipPath = Join-Path $env:TEMP $ZipName


function Set-DeveloperMode {
    $RegPath = "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppModelUnlock"

    if (-not (Test-Path $RegPath)) {
        New-Item -Path $RegPath -Force | Out-Null
    }

    $Current = Get-ItemProperty -Path $RegPath -Name AllowDevelopmentWithoutDevLicense -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

    if ($null -eq $Current) {
        New-ItemProperty `
            -Path $RegPath `
            -Name AllowDevelopmentWithoutDevLicense `
            -PropertyType DWord `
            -Value 1 `
            -Force | Out-Null
    }
    elseif ($Current.AllowDevelopmentWithoutDevLicense -ne 1) {
        Set-ItemProperty `
            -Path $RegPath `
            -Name AllowDevelopmentWithoutDevLicense `
            -Value 1
    }
}

function Expand-CompatArchive {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
        [string]$Path,

        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
        [string]$Destination
    )

    if (Test-Path $Destination) {
        Remove-Item $Destination -Recurse -Force
    }

    New-Item `
        -ItemType Directory `
        -Path $Destination `
        -Force | Out-Null

    $Extension = [System.IO.Path]::GetExtension($Path).ToLowerInvariant()

    $CanUseExpandArchive =
    $PSVersionTable.PSVersion.Major -ge 7 `
        -or $Extension -eq ".zip"

    if ($CanUseExpandArchive) {
        Expand-Archive `
            -Path $Path `
            -DestinationPath $Destination `
            -Force

        return
    }

    # PowerShell 5.x
    Add-Type -AssemblyName System.IO.Compression.FileSystem

    [System.IO.Compression.ZipFile]::ExtractToDirectory(
        $Path,
        $Destination
    )
}


Write-Host "Creating shell directory" -ForegroundColor Cyan

New-Item `
    -ItemType Directory `
    -Path $ShellPath `
    -Force | Out-Null


Write-Host "Downloading package" -ForegroundColor Cyan

Invoke-WebRequest `
    -Uri $DownloadUrl `
    -OutFile $ZipPath


Write-Host "Extracting package" -ForegroundColor Cyan

Expand-CompatArchive `
    -Path $ZipPath `
    -Destination $ShellPath


$appxFile = Get-ChildItem `
    -Path $ShellPath `
    -Filter "*.appx" `
| Select-Object -First 1

if (-not $appxFile) {
    throw "No .appx file found."
}

Write-Host "Extracting AppX manifest files" -ForegroundColor Cyan

$tempAppxExtract = Join-Path $env:TEMP "vscode_shell_appx_extract"

if (Test-Path $tempAppxExtract) {
    Remove-Item $tempAppxExtract -Recurse -Force
}

Expand-CompatArchive `
    -Path $appxFile.FullName `
    -Destination $tempAppxExtract

foreach ($file in @(
        "[Content_Types].xml",
        "AppxBlockMap.xml",
        "AppxManifest.xml"
    )) {
    Copy-Item `
        -Path (Join-Path $tempAppxExtract $file) `
        -Destination $ShellPath `
        -Force
}


$ManifestPath = Join-Path $ShellPath "AppxManifest.xml"

Write-Host "Patching AppxManifest publisher" -ForegroundColor Cyan

$content = Get-Content `
    -Path $ManifestPath `
    -Raw

$content = $content -replace `
    'Publisher="CN=Microsoft Corporation, O=Microsoft Corporation, L=Redmond, S=Washington, C=US"',
'Publisher="CN=Microslop Corporation, O=Microslop Corporation, L=Redmond, S=Washington, C=US"'

Set-Content `
    -Path $ManifestPath `
    -Value $content `
    -Encoding UTF8


Write-Host "Creating registry entries" -ForegroundColor Cyan

$RegistryPath = "HKCU:\Software\Classes\VSCodeContextMenu"

New-Item `
    -Path $RegistryPath `
    -Force | Out-Null

New-ItemProperty `
    -Path $RegistryPath `
    -Name "Title" `
    -Value $Title `
    -PropertyType String `
    -Force | Out-Null


Write-Host "Ensuring Developer Mode is enabled" -ForegroundColor Cyan

Set-DeveloperMode


Write-Host "Registering AppX package" -ForegroundColor Cyan

Add-AppxPackage `
    -Path $ManifestPath `
    -Register `
    -ExternalLocation $ShellPath


Write-Host "Restarting explorer.exe" -ForegroundColor Cyan

Get-Process explorer -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Stop-Process -Force


Write-Host "Installation completed." -ForegroundColor Green

uninstall.ps1

Set-StrictMode -Version Latest
$ErrorActionPreference = "Stop"

$VsCodeInstallPath = Join-Path $env:LOCALAPPDATA "Programs\Microsoft VS Code"
$ShellPath = Join-Path $VsCodeInstallPath "shell"

Write-Host "Removing VSCode Explorer extension..." -ForegroundColor Cyan

$Packages = Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.VSCode

foreach ($pkg in $Packages) {
    Remove-AppxPackage $pkg.PackageFullName
}

$RegistryPath = "HKCU:\Software\Classes\VSCodeContextMenu"

if (Test-Path $RegistryPath) {
    Remove-Item `
        -Path $RegistryPath `
        -Recurse `
        -Force
}

if (Test-Path $ShellPath) {
    Remove-Item `
        -Path $ShellPath `
        -Recurse `
        -Force
}

Write-Host "Restarting explorer.exe" -ForegroundColor Cyan

Get-Process explorer -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Stop-Process -Force

Write-Host "Uninstall completed." -ForegroundColor Green