Stop Hide And Seek Menus

Q. Why is it that when I click on any toolbar in any Microsoft application, I get only an abbreviated menu? If I want to exhibit the rest of the hidden menu, I have to click on a double down arrow at the bottom of the short menu. Wouldn’t I always want to see all the functions available? Is there a setting that will stop the program from playing hide-and-seek?

A. Yes, you can stop that by resetting the full-menu default. Some people like the abbreviated menu because they need only a few functions. The abbreviated menu has an intelligence of sorts: It remembers the functions you use and only displays them in the short menu.

Here’s what an abbreviated drop-down menu looks like at right):

To get the full menu all the time, click on Tools , Customize and the Options tab and place a check in Always show full menus .

If you leave that box unchecked, you have another choice: Show full menus after a short delay so you don’t have to click on the double arrows.

If you want to eliminate the abbreviated menu in all your applications, you’ll have to make the change in each, using the same method described above.