Resetting Excel Menus

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated October 12, 2019)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

Excel makes it easy to customize virtually everything you see on your screen. It is possible, for instance, to change the options that appear on the menus used by Excel. If you run across a system in which the menus have been changed, then you can change them back by following these steps:

  1. Choose the Customize option from the Tools menu. Excel displays the Customize dialog box.
  2. With the Customize dialog box open, right-click on the actual menu which you want to reset. Excel displays a Context menu. (If you only want to reset a sub-menu, left click on the major menu and then right-click on the sub-menu.)
  3. Choose Reset from the Context menu. The menu options are returned to their default settings.
  4. Close the Customize dialog box.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2645) 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

Creating Usable Figure Captions

Many people add both images and figure captions within text boxes so they can be easily positioned within a document. ...

Discover More

Changing Table Cell Text Direction

When creating a table, you can turn the orientation of the text, within a cell, by ninety degrees in either direction ...

Discover More

Specifying Default Hyperlink Text

When you insert into a cell a hyperlink that references a file on your system, the text displayed by default matches the ...

Discover More

Program Successfully in Excel! This guide will provide you with all the information you need to automate any task in Excel and save time and effort. Learn how to extend Excel's functionality with VBA to create solutions not possible with the standard features. Includes latest information for Excel 2024 and Microsoft 365. Check out Mastering Excel VBA Programming today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

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

Deleting Menu Items

Excel allows you to customize your menus so that they contain the commands you want on them. If you later want to delete ...

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
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 two more than 9?

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 © 2026 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.