Add Items to Files Panel Context Menu

Since R2025a

You can add your own custom items to the Files panel context menu using the mw.desktop.fileBrowsers.contextMenu extension point.

Add Simple Item to Context Menu

Start by creating a JSON file named extensions.json in a folder named resources. For each custom item that you want to add to the Files panel context menu, define an object within the items array of the mw.desktop.fileBrowsers.contextMenu extension point. When adding multiple custom items, separate each object with a comma.

For example, this extensions.json file contains a set of JSON declarations that adds an item to the Files panel context menu in a custom section at the bottom of the menu. In this example, the custom item appears only if one or more files or folders in the Files panel are selected.

{
    "mw.desktop.fileBrowsers.contextMenu": {
        "sections": [
            {
                "name": "myToolbox.myCustomSection",
                "type": "SimpleMenuSection",
                "items": [
                    {
                        "name": "myToolbox.displayAttributes",
                        "type": "SimpleMenuItem",
                        "when": "!selection.isEmpty",
                        "action": {
                            "name": "myToolbox.displayAttributesAction",
                            "type": "Action",
                            "text": "Display File Attributes",
                            "icon": "icons/Display_16.png",
                            "callback": "displayFileAttributes"
                        }
                    }
                ]
            }
        ]
    }
}

Create User-Defined MATLAB Function

To perform an action when the custom item in the Files panel context menu is selected, create a function that performs the intended action. Then specify the function name as the value of the callback property. Place the function in a folder on the MATLAB^® path to make it available.

The MATLAB function that you create must:

• Accept a callback information object as the input argument. The callback information object contains the paths to each file selected in the Files panel when the menu item is selected.

• Return no output arguments.

For example, create a function that displays the file attributes for each selected file in the Files panel.

function displayFileAttributes(callbackInfo)
numfiles = length(callbackInfo.Context.selectedFilePaths);
for i = 1:numfiles
    disp("File attributes for '" + callbackInfo.Context.selectedFilePaths(i) + "'")
    fileattrib(callbackInfo.Context.selectedFilePaths(i))
end
end

Enable Your Customizations

To enable your customizations, add the folder containing the resources folder with the extensions.json file to the path. Once the folder is on the path, a new menu item appears in the Files panel context menu. To see the custom menu item, select a file in the Files panel and right-click it.

When you select the new menu item, MATLAB displays the file attributes for the selected files in the Files panel within the Command Window.

File attributes for 'C:\MyWork\stat.m'

            Name: 'C:\MyWork\stat.m'
         archive: 1
          system: 0
          hidden: 0
       directory: 0
        UserRead: 1
       UserWrite: 1
     UserExecute: 1
       GroupRead: NaN
      GroupWrite: NaN
    GroupExecute: NaN
       OtherRead: NaN
      OtherWrite: NaN
    OtherExecute: NaN

Add Menu Item with Submenu

You also can add submenus to your custom context menu items. For example, this extensions.json file contains a set of JSON declarations that adds an item to the Files panel context menu with a submenu that includes an additional item.

{
    "mw.desktop.fileBrowsers.contextMenu": {
        "sections": [
            {
                "name": "myToolbox.myCustomSection",
                "type": "SimpleMenuSection",
                "items": [
                    {
                        "name": "myToolbox.displayAttributes",
                        "type": "SimpleMenuItem",
                        "when": "!selection.isEmpty",
                        "action": {
                            "name": "myToolbox.displayAttributesAction",
                            "type": "Action",
                            "text": "Display File Attributes",
                            "icon": "icons/Display_16.png"
                        },
                        "popup": {
                            "name": "myToolbox.myToolboxPopupMenu",
                            "type": "SimpleMenu",
                            "sections": [
                                {
                                    "name": "myToolbox.mySubmenuSection",
                                    "type": "SimpleMenuSection",
                                    "items": [
                                        {
                                            "name": "myToolbox.mySubmenuItem1",
                                            "type": "MenuItem",
                                            "action": {
                                                "type": "Action",
                                                "name": "myToolbox.mySubmenuItem1Action",
                                                "text": "Submenu Item 1",
                                                "callback": "displayFileAttributes"
                                            }
                                        }
                                    ]
                                }
                            ]
                        }
                    }
                ]
            }
        ]
    }
}

When you enable your customizations, a new menu item appears in the Files panel context menu with a submenu.