Windows: The right click menu is one of the fastest ways to accomplish certain tasks outside of our beloved keyboard shortcuts. Easy Context Menu adds even more options to this list.

Firefox: Some sites (like IMDB) prevent you from performing certain actions, like right clicking, on their pages. Firefox extension RightToClick disables these scripts, giving you the ability to right click, select text, or perform other actions forbidden by a given web site.

If you dig Evernote's capture powers but don't leave it constantly running on your system, the EveryJoe blog suggests creating a "Send To" shortcut in Windows' right-click menu to shuttle files over to where Evernote will catch them.

Windows only: Tiny utility Rightload makes short work of uploading files to almost any server, whether you have your own FTP or just want to quickly send images to Flickr. Once installed, take a trip over to Tools -> Manage Servers to configure your accounts. Rightload supports FTP, SFTP and Flickr out of the box, but you can get more plugins from the download page, including Imageshack, Rapidshare, and Tinypic. After configuring, you can upload files by dragging them into the window, or simply use the Rightload options from the context menu—once the files are uploaded it can even generate links or image tags. The context menu options don't work in Vista 64-bit, but they have a set of Send To shortcuts for you that do the same thing. Rightload has been around a while, but they've recently added support for HTTP upload sites and custom plugins, making this a must-have utility for anybody sharing files online with friends or embedding images into a forum. Rightload is a free download for Windows only. For more on powering up your context menu, be sure and check out our top 10 right-click tools.

Rightload

Lifehacker contributor and tireless Windows tweaker How-To Geek points out at his own blog that, just as with Vista, holding down the Shift key while right-clicking in Windows 7 gives you a fuller range of options. The expanded list of send to spots is simply every directory in your user account folder, but Geek also explains how to add your own send-to destinations.

Windows only: Free utility Open++ adds a new submenu to your right-click context menu with advanced options for adding virtually any function you could want. Rather than add a bunch of its own custom commands (though it does have a few handy defaults, like Copy Path), Open++ provides a versatile utility for adding your own functions. You can launch files, folders, or applications complete with special arguments, a user-defined working directory, custom icons, and even custom file associations (so the command only shows up when you right-click a certain file type). Open++ is a free download, Windows only. Open++

Windows only: Free application WinFlog Extreme adds several handy shortcuts to your right-click context menus with a Vista-specific twist. For example, with WinFlog you can toggle Aero with a quick couple of clicks, turn on Flip 3D, or perform more basic operations like turning off your monitor or ejecting your disc tray. Although the app is very Vista-specific, it does work on XP—but it's not like you've got any Aero interface to toggle in the first place. For Vista users, the option to quickly toggle Aero is a great feature when you're looking to squeeze every last ounce of performance out of your PC. WinFlog Extreme is a free download, Windows only.

WinFlog Extreme

Windows only: Attribute Changer, a free right-click utility, gives you total control over everything reported by a file to your system. Right-click one or many files and choose "Change Attributes," and you can enable or disable read-only status, hiding, indexing, and even NTFS compression. You can change the file's date of creation, modification and last access, and tweak a photo's time of taking. Great for those files that get erroneously labelled as made on Jan. 1, 1969, and always get lost in searches, or fixing date issues with a photo collection. Attribute Changer is a free download for Windows systems only. Attribute Changer

The right mouse button—beloved by geeks for its power, theoretically unnecessary on a Mac, and generally under-utilised on the average desktop. Right-clicking can be a powerful tool for automating file actions and saving yourself time and arm effort, but only if you've put your own stamp on the offerings of that secondary button. Today we're rounding up some of the best tools for adding power and precision to your right-click menu on Windows, Mac, and Linux systems, so check out what can be done from the other side of the scroll wheel. Photo by geobeo.

Windows only: Free right-click enhancer Moo0 RightClicker adds contextual images and a host of useful features to your standard right-click menu in Windows. Copying and moving files and folders to bookmarked or standard system folders is made easy with quick-collapsing menus. Perma-deleting items (as opposed to merely "recycling" them) is added to your options, and intelligent copying—the name, path, or contents of an actual file—is a nice touch. Best of all, Moo0 doesn't eliminate any customisations you've already made, and lets you customise what you see on right-clicking, so it works nicely with any other utilities you may have installed. Moo0 RightClicker is a free download for Windows systems only. Moo0 RightClicker

Firefox with Greasemonkey: The Gmail Right Click Menu adds a custom right-click menu to your Gmail inbox to take you to common Gmail navigation points. Currently that includes most of the links in the default Gmail sidebar, like your inbox, starred email, and drafts, along with a quick compose link. The script is still very new, but the developer has plans to incorporate labels and keyboard shortcuts, making this one very cool and promising script. Gmail Right Click Menu is free, requires Firefox with Greasemonkey. Greasemonkey Script for Right Click Menu in Gmail

Windows only: Free shell extension utility Shell Tools adds a few rare-but-good abilities to your right-click menu, including a means of toggling hidden file showing that's a lot more convenient than digging through each folder's toolbar menus to find the switch. In addition, the configurable extension tool lets you copy file names instead of files, create (hidden) note files on any file, grab URLs or site names from Internet Explorer bookmarks, and install or load fonts for a single session from the Explorer shell. I'm keeping it installed for the hidden file feature alone, but those who do a lot of file-swapping might find a good use for the notes feature, at the least. Shell Tools is a free download for Windows systems only. Shell Tools

Mac OS X only: Freeware application FinderPop adds tonnes of new and useful functionality to your Mac's context menus through a highly configurable preference pane. FinderPop's main goal is to make it quick and painless to navigate, copy, move, and alias files across your filesystem through the context menu, but it does much more than that . Unfortunately FinderPop is an app that takes a little time to get your head around, but it's also an app that you could imagine being blown away by if you were watching someone who was really good with it. FinderPop is freeware, Mac OS X only. FinderPop

Dear Lifehacker, I've been searching around for a solution to disabling the right mouse button for my son, Xander (4), who gets very frustrated when he inadvertently mashes the right button. There's a shareware program out there that fits the bill, but I'm hoping that there is a freeware program, or some other solution that will completely disable the right button for when he is logged in. Yours, Too-Many-Buttons

Dear Buttons, Whipping together a script and simple program to disable the right-click button on your mouse is a breeze using AutoHotkey. Hit the jump to see how and to download the KillRightClick script and executable.

Windows only: Sendto Flickr adds one-click photo uploading to your Windows right-click "Send to" menu, making it easier to post photos instantly to your account and worry about the details later. While Flickr's home- grown uploader already adds a "Send to Flickr" to your context menus, it still requires opening its interface and confirming the upload and photo details. Sendto Flickr, after a first-run authorisation, just gets one or more selected photos up there. The program doesn't seem to play well with .BMP files, but that shouldn't be an issue for most any user. Sendto Flickr is a free download for Windows only. Sendto Flickr

Despite its slim profile and Windows 3.1-style interface, Notepad is a tool that Windows users have come to know and love, using it for all manner of tweaking, quick editing, and other tasks. The How-To Geek explains a pretty simple registry hack that lets you add "Open with Notepad" to the right-click context menu anywhere in Windows, saving most of us a few screens' worth of clicking through the "Open with ..." dialogs. We've previously show how to accomplish the same kind of tweak with the freeware apps Sent to Notepad and the larger Send To Toys, but the Geek's solution requires no extra software and just a little bit of registry hacking (which means, of course, it's time to make a backup). Follow the link for instructions, or a file that can add the right key for you. Add "Open with Notepad" to the Context Menu for All Files

The Ubuntu Unleashed blog has a handy suggestion on how to add a helpful perma-delete tool to your right-click menu in Nautilus using the Nautilus-Actions plug-in. You just install the "wipe" package, which securely deletes a file multiple times to prevent later data-recovery efforts, and fill in a few text boxes to add it to your standard options in GNOME. After all, you don't just keep porn sensitive files on your Windows partition, do you? If so, check out DeleteOnClick for Windows and Permanent Eraser for OS X systems, which perform similar secure deletions.
Securely Wipe/Erase Files in Ubuntu