Making Short Work of Menu Names

Most third-party add-ins for Excel add their own menus to your menu bar. Add a few add-ins, and before you know it you could expand your menu bar beyond what can be easily displayed in a single row. (This depends on the resolution of your monitor, of course.)

If you find your menus running beyond what can fit in a single row, one solution is to configure Excel so that your individual menu names are shorter. Follow these steps:

1. Right-click any choice in the menu bar. Excel displays a Context menu.
2. Choose Customize from the Context menu. (It should be the last choice in the menu.) Excel displays the Customize dialog box. (Click here to see a related figure.)
3. Right-click the menu name you want to shorten. (For instance, right-click the Windows menu name.) Excel displays a list of configuration options for the menu.
4. Change the name shown in the Name field. (For instance, shorten Window to Win.)
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for any other menu names you want to shorten.
6. Close the Customize dialog box.