Making Short Work of Menu Names

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 7, 2021)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

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. (See Figure 1.)

    3. Figure 1. The Customize dialog box.

  3. Right-click the menu name you want to shorten. (Right-click on the actual menu name; don't click on anything in the dialog box. 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.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2381) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Customizing a Toolbar

Word is quite flexible in how you can configure the user interface. This tip explains how you can customize a toolbar so ...

Discover More

Finding a Device Driver's Version

Device drivers are used to allow a hardware device to communicate effectively with Windows. You might need to know a ...

Discover More

AutoFill Won't Work as Expected

AutoFill is a great tool for filling cells with data. What do you do when it doesn't work like you expect, however? ...

Discover More

Professional Development Guidance! Four world-class developers offer start-to-finish guidance for building powerful, robust, and secure applications with Excel. The authors show how to consistently make the right design decisions and make the most of Excel's powerful features. Check out Professional Excel Development today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

Animated Menus

The menus used in Excel can be animated in several different ways. All it takes is a quick change to the Excel options.

Discover More

Problem with Missing Context Menu Option

When you right-click a cell, does it seem that the Context menu is missing an item or two? Here's how to get those items ...

Discover More

Adding Items to a Context Menu

Context menus can be very helpful for presenting common operations you can perform, based on the context in which the ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is three more than 2?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the menu interface (Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, or Excel 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.

Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2025 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.