Why can't I clear the Work Menu?

[Tupwen]

My Work menu in Word v. X (my OS is Panther) is cluttered up with all
these documents I don't want there anymore. However, when I press
"control + option + -", nothing happens; I don't get the small minus
bar on the cursor to delete documents from the Work menu as I should.

This started a little while ago, about two months, I think; before that
there was nothing wrong.

I'm not sure what to do, or how to clear the Work menu another way. Any
suggestions on what to do or what this problem might be (a bug?) would
be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

~Abby

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

Actually, it's command-option-minus, not control. Typo, or is that the
problem? (command key AKA apple key)

I think you have to use the minus key on the number keypad, not the hyphen.
Or vice versa. Try both anyhow. Use google groups to search this group,
there's been previous discussion of people having problems with this, but I
forget the solution.

Regenerating your prefs file will clear the Work menu, but that's overkill.
You could also run a short VBA command (aka a macro) to clear it. However,
I forget the command just now, but if using the *other* minus key still
doesn't work, someone will provide it.

 

[Michel Bintener]

When we had this discussion here some time ago and we came to the conclusion
that there are two different things that might prevent you from deleting
entries from the Work menu:
1. when deleting, make sure that "Zoom" is turned off in the "Universal
Access" pane of the System Preferences. Somehow, this seems to cause
interferences, don't ask me why.
2. make the keystroke combination BEFORE you open the work menu. When it's
open, the combination won't work. Also, I'm using an Apple Pro Keyboard
right now, and I have to use the hyphen, not the minus sign on the numeric
keypad (the situation might be different on laptop keyboards, I have no time
to check that right now). Note that when you open the menu after your cursor
has changed into a big minus sign, the pointer will change back to normal,
which might make you believe that something has gone wrong. This is Word's
normal behaviour, though, so even though your cursor looks as usual, simply
click on the entry you'd like to see removed and it should work nonetheless.

Michel

 

[Tupwen]

Actually, it's command-option-minus, not control. Typo, or is that the
problem? (command key AKA apple key)

Sorry, yes, that was a typo.

I think you have to use the minus key on the number keypad, not the hyphen.
Or vice versa. Try both anyhow.

I've tried both, no luck.

Regenerating your prefs file will clear the Work menu, but that's

overkill.
I'll try that when I've tried other options, then.

I'll also look for the other thread and see about the macro.

when deleting, make sure that "Zoom" is turned off

I turned off "Zoom" and still no luck.

make the keystroke combination BEFORE you open the work menu. When it's
open, the combination won't work.

Yes, I made the keystroke before, and no change in the cursor. I've
even tried making the keystroke, opening Work menu, and clicking on one
of the files. It simply opens the file.


Anyway, thank you both very much for the suggestions.
Later,

~Abby

 

[Tupwen]

Actually, it's command-option-minus, not control.

Typo, or is that the problem?

Ok. Sorry about that, I guess I was just pressing the wrong buttons.
Silly me. *is not comp savvy, as is clear* Yeah, that was the problem.
It's fixed now.

Thank you both very much.

~Abby

 

[Stephen Esrati]

I followed your directions and they worked. Thank you.