3 Ways to Enable Single Click in Windows 11 and Earlier Versions

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Method 1: Use the File Explorer Options

Step 1:OpenFile Explorer Optionsfrom theStartmenu.

Here’s how you can open the menu on older versions of Windows.

On Windows 7 and Vista

On Windows XP

Step 2:Under the Click items as follows option, select theSingle-click to open an item (point to select)option.

Step 3:Here, you can also choose any of the following items highlighting options:

Step 5:Click theApply and OKbuttons to save and enforce the changes.

Method 2: Enable Single Click to Open Items Using the Registry Editor

When you cannot activate the single click to open apps and files on Windows using any of the above two methods,modify the Windows Registry keysby following the following steps. Don’t forget toback upthe Registry entries, in case something goes wrong.

Step 1:Open the Run command box by hitting theWindows + Rkeys.

Step 2:Then, typeregeditin the Run box and hit Enter.

Step 3:Go to the Explorer key from HKEY_CURRENT_USER by expanding these Registry entries:HKEY_CURRENT_USER -> Software -> Microsoft -> Windows -> CurrentVersion -> Explorer.

When inside the Explorer key, follow these steps:

Step 4:Double-click theIconUnderlineand change the value to2. (Default value is 3)

Step 5:Double-click theShellState Registryentry.

Step 6:Make the necessary changes as shown in the below image and click on OK.

To help you understand the changes, we’ve added a comparison between the default states and the changes that need to be made. You need to replace the value of the fifth column in the first row with 13.

Step 7:After making the above changes,restart your Windows PC.

Now, you should see the same single-click functionality to open files and elements as you saw in the previous methods.

Method 3: Use the Command Prompt to Activate Single-Click to Open Items

If you find the above-mentioned Registry Editor tweak complicated, follow these steps to activate single-click on Windows usingCommand Prompt.

Step 1:Open theCommand Promptwith administrator rights. Search for the command prompt in the Start menu, right-click, and selectRun as administrator.

Step 2:Now,copy-paste the following codeand hit Enter:

Step 3:Again,copy and paste this commandand hit Enter:

Step 3:Restart the Windows PC.

That’s it! You’ve successfully activated the single-click function to open elements on your Windows PC.

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Last updated on 25 July, 2024

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