Animated Menus

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 19, 2020)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

One of the ways that Excel attempts to add spice to life is through menu animation. Normally menu animation is turned off, but if you have some CPU cycles to spare, you may want to give it a try.

Choose Customize from the Tools menu and then click on the Options tab. The Menu Animations drop-down list has these possible settings:

  • System Default. This is (oddly enough) the default; there is no menu animation.
  • Random. Results in a menu using the Unfold or Slide method, at random.
  • Unfold. The menu opens up from top to bottom and left to right.
  • Slide. The menu "slides" onto the screen, progressing from top to bottom.
  • Fade. The menu "fades" in, from light to dark.

Make your selection, then click on the Close button.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (3326) 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

Scrolling Up and Down

Need an easy way to move through a spreadsheet using a mouse? Here are a couple of ideas.

Discover More

Printing Columns and Rows

If you want to print just the contents of a number of rows and columns, it can be challenging to get the output you want. ...

Discover More

Spell-checking Uppercase Words

Excel's spell-checker normally checks uppercase words for spelling. If your worksheet contains a lot of acronyms, you ...

Discover More

Comprehensive VBA Guide Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is the language used for writing macros in all Office programs. This complete guide shows both professionals and novices how to master VBA in order to customize the entire Office suite for their needs. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2010 today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

Moving Items On a Menu

Want your copy of Excel to reflect the way you want to work with the interface? Fortunately, you can modify where various ...

Discover More

Making Short Work of Menu Names

If your menu bar has become cluttered due to different add-ins you've added, you can free up space by shortening the menu ...

Discover More

Removing Items from a Context Menu

Context menus appear when you right-click an item in Excel. If you want to modify the menu that appears, the way to do so ...

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 0 + 7?

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.