Get “Always Show Menus” back in Classic Explorer

[SergeVDev]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

In the recent builds of Windows 11 there is no more Always Show Menus setting in Explorer settings.

I think it would be great if you add an option to get it back.

Here you can see, how badly people need it:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/how-do-i-set-windows-11-file-explorer-to-show-the/8a940cea-1ae8-45f7-83d9-bcfbb647e916

Describe the solution you'd like

It seems that getting it back is impossible. BUT! There is a working trick:

How did I achieve this?

1. In Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced I added AlwaysShowMenus (REG_DWORD) and set it to 1. Not sure, does it affect the following or not, mentioned it just in case.
2. In Explorer I opened the Options dialog.
3. I changed an option (say, Privacy → Show recently changed files) and click Apply. Then revert the setting and click Apply again. The option doesn't matter, clicking Apply does.

Et voila, the good ol' menu bar is back!

I guess you could emulate opening the Options dialog (making it invisible) and applying programmatically. Maybe, you even don't need changing any option, just sending a button message to the dialog as if Apply is clicked.

Feel free to request additional investigation on Explorer behavior, I'd be glad to help.

Regards,

Area of issue

Windows Explorer

Alternatives you've considered

No response

Additional context

No response