Deleting Menu Items

Summary: There are several ways you can customize the menus in Word. You can even delete menu items very quickly using the shortcut shown in this tip. (This tip works with Microsoft Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, Word 2003, and Word 2007.)

You probably know that you can use Tools | Customize to modify the menus used in Word. There are some menus that this won't work with, however. For instance, dynamic menu entries such as the MRU list at the bottom of the File menu, or items that may appear if you create a Work menu are not "editable" through the Customize feature.

Word does provide a way that you can remove any menu option from any menu, however. This is a very powerful feature, and should be used with great care. All you need to do is press Alt+Ctrl+- (that last part is a dash, right next to the 0 key, not the minus key on the keypad). The mouse pointer changes into a thick bar. Use the bar pointer to click on a menu, and then click on the menu option you want to delete. The menu option is removed, and the mouse pointer changes back to normal.

Tip #1050 applies to Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

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