Turning Off Dynamic Menus

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated November 23, 2019)
This tip applies to Excel 2000, 2002, and 2003


Excel, starting with Excel 2000, employs a feature I refer to as "dynamic menus." This means that Excel keeps track of which menu options you use the most, and these are the options it presents you. If you want to see all the menu options, you need to hover the mouse pointer over a menu for a few seconds or click on the down-pointing arrows at the bottom of any menu.

Dynamic menus can make it a bit easier to get to the choices you make most often, but there is a drawback: It is more difficult to see all the menu-based capabilities of Excel. If you want to turn off this feature (thereby making Excel's menus behave as they did in previous program versions), follow these steps:

  1. Choose Customize from the Tools menu. Excel displays the Customize dialog box.
  2. Make sure the Options tab is selected. (See Figure 1.)
  3. Figure 1. The Options tab of the Customize dialog box.

  4. Clear the check box to the left of the Menus Show Recently Used Commands First option. (In Excel 2003, select the Always Show Full Menus check box.)
  5. Click on OK.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (3311) applies to Microsoft Excel 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

Changing Paragraph Order

Want a quick way to rearrange entire paragraphs of your document? You can easily do it by using the technique described here.

Discover More

Ampersands in Headers and Footers

Add an ampersand to the text in a header or footer and you may be surprised that the ampersand disappears on your ...

Discover More

No Ribbon on New Documents

The way that you work with commands in Word is primarily through the ribbon. What do you do if the ribbon disappears when ...

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)

Selecting Tabs in Dialog Boxes

Want to move around in dialog boxes using just the keyboard? You'll love the ideas in this tip, then.

Discover More

Using the Same Range Name on Different Worksheets

Defined names can be a great boon when working in a worksheet. Usually names are available throughout an entire workbook, ...

Discover More

Counting the Times a Worksheet is Used

Do you need to know how many times a worksheet has been used? Excel doesn't track that information, but you can develop ...

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.

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 seven minus 6?

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.