Changing the Context (Shortcut) Menus

When you right-click on an item within Windows, a Context menu is displayed. The items listed on the Context menu vary, depending on the item on which you are right-clicking. Within Word, Context menus are referred to as Shortcut menus. (It is unclear why Word would use different terminology than Windows does.) Word allows you to modify the Shortcut menus which appear when you right-click on an item within your document. As an example of the process you can follow to make changes, try these steps. (These steps assume you want to change the Shortcut menu that appears when you right-click on text within your document.)

1. Choose Customize from the Tools menu. Word displays the Customize dialog box.
2. Make sure the Toolbars tab is selected. (See Figure 1.)



Figure 1. The Toolbars tab of the Customize dialog box.

3. Scroll through the list of toolbars, and select the Shortcut Menus item. A floating Shortcut Menus toolbar appears.
4. The toolbar has three items on it. These items represent the three categories of Shortcut menus used by Word.
5. Click on Text, then choose Text from the drop-down list. This displays the actual Shortcut menu that appears when you right-click on text within your document.
6. Within the Customize dialog box, click on the Commands tab. (See Figure 2.)



Figure 2. The Commands tab of the Customize dialog box.

7. Using the Categories list, choose the type of item you want to add to the Shortcut menu. This modifies the commands listed in the Commands list.
8. Drag items from the Commands list to the position where you want them to appear on the Shortcut menu.
9. To rename an item on the Shortcut menu, right-click on it and specify the name.
10. To delete an item on the Shortcut menu, drag the item off the menu.
11. Repeat steps 7 through 10 to continue modifying the menu.
12. Close the Shortcut Menus toolbar.
13. Click Close in the Customize dialog box when you are done.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (389) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.