New text document option missing

In Windows, I often use the function New Text document by right-clicking on the desktop and then selecting it from the context menu. It’s a simple way to quickly take notes or paste some text copied from other applications. Recently I noticed that right-clicking the desktop didn’t show the New text document shortcut anymore.  Being too busy to address this problem I just ignored it. After a while it became pretty annoying so it needed to be solved.

Consulting Google on the matter I came across several possible solutions. Only the one I found on Microsoft’s community forums worked for me. So I decided to share it with you.

Recover new text document option: the easy way

Ofcourse, you can go all hardcore. By going into Regedit to modify the Windows registry yourself. But there is a simpler way to do it. Just copy and paste the following code into a text file. All of it, including the line saying ‘Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00’. Give that file the ‘.reg’ extension. Then double click that file and presto, problem solved. Right-click on the desktop to see if the New Text Document option reappears in the context menu.You might want to hit F5 while on the desktop if you don’t see results right away.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\.txt]
 "PerceivedType"="text"
 @="txtfile"
 "Content Type"="text/plain"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\.txt\PersistentHandler]
 @="{5e941d80-bf96-11cd-b579-08002b30bfeb}"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\.txt\ShellNew]
 "ItemName"=hex(2):40,00,25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,\
 6f,00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,\
 00,6e,00,6f,00,74,00,65,00,70,00,61,00,64,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,2c,00,\
 2d,00,34,00,37,00,30,00,00,00
 "NullFile"=""