If you want to open items with a single click instead of double-click on a Windows 11/10 PC, here is how you can do that. You can use File Explorer Options or Registry Editor and Command line combination to set Windows 11/10 to open files with a single click.
Change double-click to single-click via File Explorer Options
To open items with a Single Click instead of a Double Click in Windows 11/10, do the following:
- Search for file explorer options.
- Click on the individual search result.
- Ensure that you are in the General tab.
- Select the Single-click to open an item option.
- Click the OK button.
- Restart File Explorer.
To learn more about these steps, continue reading.
First, you need to open the File Explorer Options wizard. For that, search for file explorer options in the Taskbar search box and click on the individual search result.
Then, make sure that you are in the General tab. If so, here you can find an option called Single-click to open an item. You need to choose this option and click the OK button.
The change will be visible when you single-click on any file or folder.
When you do this you need to click only once on an icon, with your mouse pointer to open a file.
You may also want to select the Underline icon tiles only when I point at them option.
How to open items with a Single Click instead of Double Click using the Command line
To open items with a single click instead of double-clicking using the Command line, follow these steps:
First, you need to create a System Restore point. Then open an elevated Command Prompt (or PowerShell) and execute the following commands:
REG ADD “HKCUSOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorer” /V IconUnderline /T REG_DWORD /D 2 /F
And then-
REG ADD “HKCUSOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorer” /V ShellState /T REG_BINARY /D 240000001ea8000000000000000000000000000001000000130000000000000062000000 /F
This will add value to the Registry.
To reverse the change and make Windows open items with a double-click, execute these commands:
REG ADD “HKCUSOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorer” /V ShellState /T REG_BINARY /D 240000003ea8000000000000000000000000000001000000130000000000000062000000 /F
Read: 10 Useful Mouse Tricks For Windows users
How do I enable single click on Windows 11?
To enable single-click to open items on Windows 11, you need to open the File Explorer Options first. Then, find the Single-click to open an item option in the General tab. Select this option and click the OK button. The same method works on Windows 10 and some other older versions of Windows as well.
How to change mouse double-click to single-click settings in Windows 11?
To change the mouse double-click to single-click settings in Windows 11, and open the File Explorer Options using the Start Menu or Taskbar search box. Then, make sure that you are in the General tab. Find the Single-click to open an item option and select it. Finally, click the OK button and restart File Explorer.
