Canceling a Menu

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated April 26, 2025)

If you begin to select an option from one of the Word menus, you can cancel the menu by one of three methods:

Press Esc twice (the second time is necessary to return you to your document)
Click on the menu name a second time
Click somewhere outside the menu area

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (388) applies to Microsoft Word 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. Learn more about Allen...

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