Remove from Work Menu

[Aelfgyfu]

I used to use my Work menu in Word all the time, but at some point
after I got Word 2004, it stopped working. I found several suggestions
here (and at another group): I'm afraid these solutions don't seem to
work anymore.

option-command-8 will give me a minus sign cursor--which disappears
when I try to use it on the Work menu.

Another link gave me Macros to remove items from the Work menu. I
finally asked my husband, who works in Visual Basic and could analyze
these but hadn't known enough about Word to write one himself, why they
didn't work.

The answer? He found that the "Delete Item from Work Menu" command
simply doesn't exist anymore on any of the three Macs we have between
us. Turning the cursor to a minus sign won't do anything as a result,
and a macro can't get you to a command that seems not to exist anymore.

Another suggestion on a different forum was to remove Work menu items
one by one from the Library file the machine keeps for Word, but we
could never find the list when we opened the file in TextEdit.

On a different question, someone suggested removing Work from the
toolbar entirely and reinstalling. I successfully removed it by opening
Tools>Customize>Toolbars and then dragging it off the toolbar. When I
quit Word and tried to drag it back on, I couldn't drag it.

Perhaps in a future update the problem will be fixed, but right now, I
can't get any of these solutions to work, and I wanted to save anyone
else reading them the hours I've spent trying to fix the problem.

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

Hi Aelfgyfu,

One of the System Preferences overrides cmd-option-minus. This is a
relatively frequent issue--go to System Preferences |Universal Access |
Zoom, and if Zoom is on, you will notice that one of the default commands
uses cmd-option-minus. So turn Zoom off (if you need it, an alternative
below).

Apple might have turned on some Universal Access features by default in a
recent OS update to cause this--I know my VoiceOver came on randomly and the
computer began explaining what I was doing.

I don't know who recommended all this stuff--this group, or somewhere else?

Perhaps in a future update the problem will be fixed, but right now, I
can't get any of these solutions to work, and I wanted to save anyone
else reading them the hours I've spent trying to fix the problem.

Sorry! Nobody gave you the right answer, that's why you had so many
problems.

Cmd-option-8 sounds like a wild-ass guess from someone--the correct keyboard
shortcut (by default) is cmd-option-minus.

I don't think I believe your husband's diagnosis, or it wasn't a very good
macro, because the command is hard-coded into Word, and they don't just
vanish. Macros invoke the command directly, bypassing such tricks like
changing the cursor. The only thing that has gone wrong is the keyboard
shortcut to access it, not the command itself. The command is called
ToolsCustomizeRemoveMenuShortcut, and a different shortcut key can be
assigned via Tools | Customize, although you have to look under All Commands
in that dialog (I think).

Messing with the Library file sounds like a BAD idea, though very
unix-geeky. In fact, the contents of the Work menu are held in the
preferences file, and regenerating prefs would have cleared it but wiped
your other prefs. Toss-up. If manually editing prefs was suggested (I
don't really know what "Library file" means, and there are two logical
possibilities for the prefs file)--just not a good idea, with Word. Why risk
screwing up the program?

On a different question, someone suggested removing Work from the
toolbar entirely and reinstalling. I successfully removed it by opening
Tools>Customize>Toolbars and then dragging it off the toolbar. When I
quit Word and tried to drag it back on, I couldn't drag it.

Interesting. That seems odd, I'll try to investigate. Also, if you could
post a link to the macro that didn't work.

Hope that helps,

 

[Aelfgyfu]

Daiya,

I'm sorry for changing my name; Google automatically used my gmail
name, and I didn't realize it to keep the same name I'd had on the
other board.

I'll recap here what I've tried and what finally works.

Turning off Universal Access and Zoom didn't do it.

Cmd-option-8 sounds like a wild-ass guess from someone--the correct keyboard
shortcut (by default) is cmd-option-minus.

That's supposed to turn off Zoom without disabling all of Universal
Access, I was told. At this point, I've skimmed so many newsgroups, I'm
afraid I can't remember where I read that (except that it was on two
different groups).

The only thing that has gone wrong is the keyboard
shortcut to access it, not the command itself. The command is called
ToolsCustomizeRemoveMenuShortcut, and a different shortcut key can be
assigned via Tools | Customize, although you have to look under All Commands
in that dialog (I think).

Okay, I did misunderstand (I thought it was "RemoveMenuShortcut"
because I had already *done* Tools>Customize).
I looked under Tools>Customize>Customize Toolbars Menu.
I then selected "Commands" and "All Commands."
You're right: under All Commands, I needed
"ToolsCustomizeRemoveMenuShortcut"

And now it seems to work. Now I have Remove Menu Shortcut under my
"Work" menu, and if I click that first, I can remove it, even if I
can't get the shortcut keys to work.

Messing with the Library file sounds like a BAD idea, though very
unix-geeky.

Yes, it probably was a bad idea.

Interesting. That seems odd, I'll try to investigate. Also, if you could
post a link to the macro that didn't work.

Here's the link for several Macros:
http://word.mvps.org/mac/workmenu.html#remove
It *did* in fact work on my husband's computer; I can't explain why it
worked on his and not mine. Fortunately, I don't need it anymore.

Thanks again for all your help.

 

[CyberTaz]

FWIW -

Cmd+Option+- does generate the minus pointer here, which promptly reverts to
a black arrow as soon as it crosses the edge of the Menu Bar. *However* it
still removes a listing from the Work Menu regardless of its appearance. It
also works fine on the File Menu for removing MRUs.

Part of the confusion may stem from the fact that Cmd+Option+8 toggles OS X
Universal Access *Zoom* On/Off, so if you tried that keystroke it probably
turned the Zoom ON which cancelled its effectivenes for removing menu items.

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[Clive Huggan]

Daiya,

I'm sorry for changing my name; Google automatically used my gmail
name, and I didn't realize it to keep the same name I'd had on the
other board.

I'll recap here what I've tried and what finally works.

Turning off Universal Access and Zoom didn't do it.
That's supposed to turn off Zoom without disabling all of Universal
Access, I was told. At this point, I've skimmed so many newsgroups, I'm
afraid I can't remember where I read that (except that it was on two
different groups).


Okay, I did misunderstand (I thought it was "RemoveMenuShortcut"
because I had already *done* Tools>Customize).
I looked under Tools>Customize>Customize Toolbars Menu.
I then selected "Commands" and "All Commands."
You're right: under All Commands, I needed
"ToolsCustomizeRemoveMenuShortcut"

And now it seems to work. Now I have Remove Menu Shortcut under my
"Work" menu, and if I click that first, I can remove it, even if I
can't get the shortcut keys to work.


Yes, it probably was a bad idea.


Here's the link for several Macros:
http://word.mvps.org/mac/workmenu.html#remove
It *did* in fact work on my husband's computer; I can't explain why it
worked on his and not mine. Fortunately, I don't need it anymore.

Thanks again for all your help.

Note for the record: After you key Command-Option-[minus] to remove a menu
item and the pointer changes into a big minus sign, it can be disconcerting
to find that the minus sign changes into the usual pointer arrow once you
click on the Work menu -- especially if you recall that in Word 2001 and
before, it stayed visible. Don't be put off; continue with the pointer arrow
and when you release the mouse button the menu item at that position will
disappear from the menu.

Apple Computer's seemingly random allocation of keyboard shortcuts that have
long been established by one of its most important third-party applications
-- rather than those less used or not used -- is quite irresponsible IMHO.

I have listed some of these commands, and suggested work-arounds, in "Bend
Word to Your Will", available as a free download from the Word MVPs' website
(http://word.mvps.org/Mac/Bend/BendWordToYourWill.html).

Clive Huggan
=============

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

Hi Aelfgyfu,

Daiya,

I'm sorry for changing my name

Not a problem.

I'll recap here what I've tried and what finally works.

Turning off Universal Access and Zoom didn't do it.

That's very odd, but oh, well.

That's supposed to turn off Zoom without disabling all of Universal
Access, I was told. At this point, I've skimmed so many newsgroups, I'm
afraid I can't remember where I read that (except that it was on two
different groups).

Okay--so the procedure there (just for the archives) would have been
cmd-option-8 to turn off zoom, then cmd-option-minus to get the Remove
shortcut.

You're right: under All Commands, I needed
"ToolsCustomizeRemoveMenuShortcut"

And now it seems to work. Now I have Remove Menu Shortcut under my
"Work" menu, and if I click that first, I can remove it, even if I
can't get the shortcut keys to work.

Okay, glad you got that settled. I should put it on my Work menu, I don't
know why I don't.

Here's the link for several Macros:
http://word.mvps.org/mac/workmenu.html#remove
It *did* in fact work on my husband's computer; I can't explain why it
worked on his and not mine. Fortunately, I don't need it anymore.

Macros are pretty susceptible to minor errors in pasting and copying--or,
there might be something wonky on your machine. That article also needs to
be updated for the current OS X, I think.

Thanks again for all your help.

Anytime. Sorry for showing exasperation.