Windows 11 doesn’t come with transparent context menus out of the box, but you can change that with a nifty tool.
You may have noticed that the default transparency option on Windows 11 is a bit missing. There’s not much you can look through and there’s no way to change it.
Would you like a slightly more transparent context menu? Here’s how to get it.
Windows 11 comes with a transparency option by default. If you haven’t already done so, consider enabling Windows 11’s default transparency effect.
This looks great, but lacks customizability and doesn’t let you see much beyond the context menu. Worse, certain pop-out menus don’t have this effect.
Keep this option checked as you need it to get a true transparency effect in your context menu.
How to add transparency to context menus and pop-out menus
We use a program called TranslucentFlyouts. Go to the GitHub page for TranslucentFlyouts and download the latest version, extract it and then run it.
You will be greeted with a warning message explaining what the program will do to achieve the effect.
Click Accept and the program will open properly. This program offers a few different options, but the most obvious is the easy setting Effect to Transparent.
This will apply the effect immediately. Check out the context menu to see the difference. You will also notice the number of other options available to you. Add a drop shadow, adjust the opacity and choose different dialog boxes to be affected.
By default, this effect extends to pop-out menus, which Windows doesn’t normally cover. For people with large workspaces or cluttered desktops, this can be extremely useful for maintaining readability.
Will Windows ever have this feature by default?
Windows already offers this feature, but in a way that many may find unsatisfying.
Because of this, it’s not unreasonable to assume that more complex transparency options could eventually come in a future Windows 11 update.
If that never happens, we still have lightweight programs like TranslucentFlyouts.
Adjust transparency options
With TranslucentFlyouts you have the full range of how transparent or opaque your context menu will be. Even better, depending on your settings, it can actually help make your context menu more readable.
While it’s a shame we can’t do it right away, being able to do it at all can be a lifesaver for cluttered workstations.
