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Return the Menu Bar to Vista Explorer
Posted by Adam Pash at 11:00 AM on January 5, 2008
Windows Vista only: I've recently engaged on a more serious foray back into the world of Windows Vista (turns out it's not that bad), and one of the first sources of major confusion for me came the first time I tried to access the menu bar in the new Windows Explorer. Why? Because it's not there. Luckily, if you're big on the functionality therein, it's not all that difficult to get it back. First, if you prefer the clean look without the menu bar, you can just tap the Alt key whenever you want to access the menu bar and it'll pop up until you click elsewhere. On the other hand, if you want it back permanently, just click the new Organize button, then go to Layout, select Menu Bar, and voilà! Similarly, in Internet Explorer you can bring it back by going to Tools -> Menu Bar. Simple, but it was a major source of confusion to begin with. Thanks Adam!
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
gpzbc
Posted 5:57 PM 4/1/08
I like the clean look, so I just hit ALT when I need it.
gpzbc
CrunchBite
Posted 7:58 PM 4/1/08
@gpzbc: Windows looked a lot cleaner with just the menu bar then all the other stuff it has now. I don't mind hiding the menu bar and all but I sure wish I could also hide the sort bar and the breadcrumbs bar. Gigantic wastes of space.
CrunchBite
petebocken
Posted 6:36 PM 4/1/08
the more you use vista the less you need the menubar. kind of like how i hide the firefox menubar. screen space recovered!
petebocken
dmccall
Posted 10:42 PM 4/1/08
I just got a computer with Vista last month and REALLY like it so far.
dmccall
registereduser1946
Posted 6:53 AM 5/1/08
press Alt anf File Button is highlighted.press enter and open File menu.press alt and press arrow key [ left/-/right ] and other nav bar buttons are activated.again,just press enter and that text button's menu comes up.
registereduser1946
person65535
Posted 8:59 AM 5/1/08
The vista for experts pack, i think that was what it was called, does this as one of the options i think
person65535
dekay46
Posted 11:23 AM 5/1/08
@petebocken: amen to that. i haven't used the firefox bar in a month or so.. the vista menu... i almost forgot it existed until i saw this.
dekay46
longbourne
Posted 1:04 PM 5/1/08
A more useful tip would be how to hide the Organize/Views bar without diving shoulder-deep into the Registry and cutting the red wire to see what happens.
longbourne
Mysterius
Posted 11:57 PM 6/1/08
I have the opposite problem:
I find that I don't really need the menu bar, but it's stuck on for some reason, and it won't go away no matter what I do. :(
Mysterius
quoderat
Posted 4:17 AM 7/1/08
If someone can tell me how to add the up button back, I might have a chance of using Vista one day. I know criticism of Vista is not allowed on this site, so I realize this comment won't get posted, but Vista is really a true travesty of UI.
quoderat
quoderat
Posted 11:23 PM 5/1/08
What's a travesty is that Microsoft spent so many billions on this product, and the US is so execrable. No up button?
I mean, come on -- that's just ridiculous. If you want your up button back, come on to Ubuntu.
quoderat
mavrevMatt
Posted 11:23 AM 5/1/08
I wondered where that bar had gone...
mavrevMatt
quoderat
Posted 3:02 AM 5/1/08
Vista is what prompted me to switch permanently to Linux, after using various distros on and off for 10 years. No menu bar (by default) in Vista, but biggest idiocy of all -- NO UP BUTTON. Wow, what a waste of my time.
I use the up button oh, about 500 times a day, and ye gods, Ubuntu's Gnome actually has an up button! Of course, that is not the only reason I switched -- much about Linux is far better than Vista -- but it is completely emblematic of all the interface issues that Vista has. As another for instance, I think it takes 7-12 clicks to change my IP address in Vista. In Linux, it's far less, or I can use the command line.
Vista is very stable. But it is also the worst turd of an OS interface I've ever used. I can't believe Microsoft spent billions of dollars on something that a group of 10-year-olds could have exceeded interface-wise in a weekend.
No, I couldn't upgrade back to XP, because I have 8GB of memory and 64-bit XP is terrible for other reasons.
So Ubuntu it is for me, and I could not be more pleased. I am 10x more productive on Ubuntu than I was in my six months of using Vista.
quoderat
ahoier
Posted 9:51 AM 7/1/08
Kinda ironic, but I think the "Explorer" and "Internet Explorer" development teams must be totally different people....
In IE7 the feature is under View --> Toolbars --> Menu Bar (Toggle on/off)
In "Explorer" (Windows Explorer) - the feature is not there....though at that area, I am given the option of turning on google toolbar while in Explorer...? haha.
Id like to be able to turn off the File menu in Windows Explorer though...previously it was "off" - but now it's back on...
Unless that is because I have my themes/settings set to "Windows Classic" and "Standard"?
ahoier
unknownsoldierx
Posted 2:57 AM 7/1/08
@ MYSTERIUS
You have classic folders turned on. Go to folder options and change it back to "Show preview and filters". Then you can turn the menu bar on and off, and any of the other panes you don't want.
unknownsoldierx
kalebdf
Posted 10:39 PM 9/1/08
@quoderat: Are some of yall really complaining that much and it would really blow your cap off if one day there were no "UP" button? Seriously? Travesty in UI, really, really...
The breadcrumb trail IS THE UP BUTTON and even better. It is a breadcrumb all the way to the root, either the "User" or "Computer" and clicking the arrow next to it drops down a list of directories in that directory.
I thought that this (breadcrumb and no "File Menu" by default) was a BRILLIANT addition to Vista. They really paid attention to what Linux & Mac users liked and what Windows users wanted.
I have never used the File/Menu bar. Do people really need this to be able to Copy & Paste? Keyboard shortcuts & rt-click context menu anyone.
At least Vista doesn't have the lame Mac "Menu Bar" of active window at the top by default instead of something that is normally static in all other machines so if I want to do something I have to minimize or switch to the desktop to do it... Every system has its set of "quirks" to the unprepared user.
-Kaleb
kalebdf