1

How can I show the menu bar for all applications in Windows 11, at the top of the screen?

I haven't used Windows since NT, and have to for some work I'm doing, and don't seem to see an easy way to enable this feature

Improve this question

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
1

Not all apps have a menu. And for apps that have a standard menu the shortcut has always been F10 or Alt. With Alt the accelerator key is also shown so you can press Alt+key[+...] directly to quickly open the menus or menu entries. This hasn't been changed for decades. Even in MS' ribbon interface the shortcut is still the same, which is Alt for showing the accelerator key or Alt+key[+...] to select the feature.

Some UIs do have a settings to always show the menu. For example in Explorer you can open Folder options and select Always show menus, and in Internet Explorer and some versions of Explorer you can also right click on the toolbar to enable it

Always show menus

Always show menu bar

For some apps that don't have a standard menu then obviously it depends on the mercy of that app to provide a way to access its menu.

Improve this answer
2
  • If an app does have a menu, is there a way to show this menu all the time? Having to hit Alt every time I want to look at menu options slows me down considerably.
    – SMBiggs
    Commented Jul 2 at 14:38
  • @SMBiggs that's a different question, you should ask another one instead of commenting. Anyway just press Alt+key to open the menu quickly instead of just Alt then depress it then other keys, it'll be much faster. For always displaying the menu it depends on the app. For the one in Explorer check reddit.com/r/WindowsHelp/comments/qhrmiu/…
    – phuclv
    Commented Jul 11 at 8:01
0

(1) The Menu Bar (= Task Bar) for any and all apps that you want is a bar across the bottom of the screen.

Natively you cannot relocate this bar.

The bar is also called a Launcher (a la Apple) and icons can go left side of the bar or center of the bar.

That is all you can do natively in Windows 11.

Windows 11 is fairly tightly nailed down.

I am not sure about 3rd party offerings but these can get bashed in feature updates.

It is called Explorer Patcher and has been known to cause issues, so beware.

See Move Task Bar

(2) App by App: Otherwise App Menus are App by App.

(3) Office Toolbar: There was an old Office Toolbar that could be added to and moved around. But that is very long gone (not in Office 2003 or later).

Summary: Anything of a menu nature in Windows NT4 (which I have here) is gone.

Improve this answer
3
  • 1
    Thanks for the feedback - my question is not about the taskbar, but how to show where "menus" used to be back in NT - File/Edit/etc ? Thanks!
    – Brad Parks
    Commented Mar 20, 2023 at 0:38
  • App Menus now are App by App. Given this, I did assume you meant Task Bar. I do have a Windows NT VM and it sets up default more or less like modern systems.
    – anon
    Commented Mar 20, 2023 at 0:39
  • You may be thinking of the Office Toolbar (Office 2002 and not later, possibly before) which had some flexibility, but that is long gone.
    – anon
    Commented Mar 20, 2023 at 0:48

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .