Office Button in 2007 apps

[dgperry]

The office button, up in the left hand corner of the office apps, no longer
opens. It used ot open and allow a selection from various menu items, such
as New, Save as, etc. Now the only way to do this is to use the Quick Access
bar. How do I get the office button to work again?

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

Invariably, such problems are the result of a) an add-in, b) corrupted
normal.dotm, or c) corrupted registry entry (usually the Data key).

For starters... try opening Word in safe mode. Press Ctrl as Word is
starting, then click Yes on the Safe Mode prompt. Does the Office button
function correctly?

If so, then try renaming Normal.dotm and see if this restores the Office
button.

If that doesn't work, try renaming the Data key in the registry. It's
located here:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Word

 

[dgperry]

The problem does indeed go away when you start Word in safe mode. But
renaming the Normal.dotm or the Data key does not fix the problem. Any other
suggestions?

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

If renaming Normal.dotm and the Data key don't do the trick, then the
problem might be due to an add-in. The problem is that without the Office
button, the normal method for accessing Word Options is frustrated. To
access it, add it to the Quick Access Toolbar:


Right-click the Quick Access Toolbar, and choose Customize... Set choose
commands from to All Commands. In the list, click on Application Options
(this is the Word Options command), then click the Add button. Click OK.

Now, you should be able to access Word Options (which is normally accessible
by clicking the Office button) using the Word Options button in the Quick
Access Toolbar. Click that button.

Click the Add-Ins tab.

Near the bottom, set Manage: to COM Add-ins, and click Go...

Remove the checks next to any add-ins that are listed, and click OK.

Repeat the process, and set Manage to Word Add-ins, and click Go.

Remove the checks next to any add-ins that are listed and click OK.


See if the Office button works now. If not, then close Word, restart Word,
and try again. If the button now works, try adding back add-ins until the
Office button stops working. When it stops, you should have your culprit --
remove it, and contact the vendor to see if there's a fix.

If the Office button still does not work, then there are deeper problems.
For starters, I would try to use the Repair option, which is available from
Programs and Features (assuming Vista; Add or Remove Programs if Windows
XP). Click on Office, then click the Repair option.

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com