Right-clicking the Recycle Bin on a Windows Vista Desktop allows you to perform several actions such as adjusting the Recycle Bin size, configuring whether or not a file deletion prompt should appear, or toggling whether or not files should be removed immediately or placed in the Recycle Bin.

If this menu option is not available, or if clicking the "Properties" option shows a dialog box "The properties for this item are not available", the following two methods may restore this functionality. Note you must be logged in as an Administrator.

Via Group Policy:


1. Click the Start button, typing gpedit.msc and pressing Enter

2. If the "User Account Control" dialog box appears, click "Continue".

3. The "Local Group Policy Editor" appears. In the left pane, navigate to "User Configuration" - "Administrative Templates" - "Desktop".

4. Double-click "Remove Properties from the Recycle Bin context menu".

5. When the Properties dialog box appears, click the "Not Configured" radio button.

6. Click "OK" to close the dialog box, then close the Local Group Policy Editor.

Via the Registry Editor:

The following registry edit may restore the "Properties" menu item when right-clicking the "Recycle Bin".

Read the disclaimer...

In the Windows Registry Editor, delete the following value:

Computer \ HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ NonEnum \ NoPropertiesRecycleBin

You may have to log off and back on for the change to take effect.

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