Work Menu in Word 2008 for MAC - Removing Items

[Michaeli]

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: intel

Here is what I found for removing items from the Work menu. It's certainly not intuitive and is just a little tedious to set up, but it works well once done:
To Remove a Document from the Work Menu

First, create a custom command in Word as follows:

• Select "Customize Keyboard" from the Tools drop down menu

• Select "All Commands" in the "Categories" column on the left

• Find "ToolsCustomizeRemoveMenuShortcut" in the "Commands" box on the right

• If there is anything in the "Current Keys" box click the "Remove" button to remove it

• In the "Press new keyboard shortcut" box enter the "Apple key + the Option key + a minus sign (-)" simultaneously, and then click the "Assign" button.

THEN

• Open the document to be removed from the Work menu

• Click anywhere in the document itself

• Hold down the Apple + Option + Minus sign (-)

• A bold – (minus sign) will appear

• Drop down the Work menu and highlight the document to be removed

• It will be removed.

 

[Clive Huggan]

Spot on, Michaeli! Thank you for contributing this, especially so clearly.

Cheers,

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

 

[Michaeli]

Thanks - Documentation on this topic is non-existent. I got the MAC word support people from Microsoft on the line and it took them a while to find it. This was reasonably straight forward in the 2004 version, but has changed in the 2008 version and it is not documented anywhere that I could find.

Michael

Spot on, Michaeli! Thank you for contributing this, especially so clearly.

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi Michaeli -

The reason the keystroke was removed is that many people were accidentally
keying it & wiping out menu commands unintentionally. I guess it was
considered more appropriate for those who were familiar with the Work menu
to customize as desired than it was for the rest of the world to be dazed &
confused by the "inexplicable" loss of their menus

BTW - One adjustment to the THEN part of the procedure: It isn't at all
necessary to open the document you want to remove from the Work menu... In
fact, removing a menu item in that way is one of the few things you can do
in Word without having *any* document open at all.

And a footnote for anyone who does activate the minus pointer by accident:
Pressing esc will dismiss the bugger... At least until next time

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

 

[Michaeli]

Bob, thanks for the tip. You are correct, it is not necessary to actually open the document to be removed. As long is word is open the Apple + Option + Minus Sign(-) key combination will bring up the bold minus sign, you can then remove the unwanted document from the Work drop down menu. The Microsoft support person I spoke with had told me the actual document had to be open so I did not test it without the document being open - thanks.

 

[Clive Huggan]

<snip>

A few of my thoughts are in a one-page article at page 71 of some notes on
the way I use Word for the Mac (2008 excluded), titled "Bend Word to Your
Will", which are available as a free download from the Word MVPs' website
(http://word.mvps.org/Mac/Bend/BendWordToYourWill.html).

[Note: "Bend Word to your will" is designed to be used electronically and
most subjects are self-contained dictionary-style entries. If you decide to
read more widely than the item I've referred to, it's important to read the
front end of the document -- especially pages 3 and 5 -- so you can select
some Word settings that will allow you to use the document effectively.]

Cheers,

Clive Huggan
Canberra, Australia
(My time zone is 5-11 hours different from the Americas and Europe, so my
follow-on responses to those regions can be delayed)
====================================================

 

[Michaeli]

Thanks Clive, I've downloaded your document. I'm sure it will come in handy.

Best Regards,
Michael

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

Side note:
Someone has written a handy little script, also, for Word 2008, which is
here, and avoids the chance of accidentally deleting something else:
http://scriptbuilders.net/files/removework1.11.html

Michaeli, I use your method (thanks! nice writeup) but actually add the
command to the Work menu itself as I don't use it often enough to
remember the shortkey.