Excel - How to remove "Search the menus" in right-click menu options

[Grant_King]

Hello all,

Just today I noticed when I right-clicked in an open Excel tab, the top-most option (normally "Cut") has been replaced by a search bar with "Search the menus" appearing in it automatically. I've looked all over Excel's options & searched across several forums but couldn't find anything about it. This is really throwing off years of muscle-memory & I'd like to remove/disable it or at the very least move it to the bottom where it won't be such an annoyance. Please let me know if this is possible, Thanks!

[#2]

@Grant_King 

Glad to see im not the only person that finds this annoying......

also looking for a way to edit or delete the 'Serarch the menus' option.

[#3]

You are not the only two persons. @Grant_King @Andrew_Edgar

[#4]

@Grant_King 

I can't tell you how many times I'm hit that stupid search field in the last few days! right-click is my best friend and now it SUCKS. google suggests there are ways to tweak the menu by going through VBA but I haven't had time to work through to prove it yet. 

[#5]

@SoUncreativeTotally! I read that too, but I feel like I shouldn't have to use VBA or friggin' edits to the Registry when a simply check-box to "turn off search feature" should just be there automatically...

[#6]

an add-in called MenuRighter may be an easier way

[#7]

@Grant_King I am also wanting to know how to remove this feature as everyone in our office finds this annoying and it slows down our progress. Microsoft where are you?

[#8]

I'm not a fan of this at all. It feels like it has been added to support general/basic excel users, unfortunately, they have discarded advanced users' UX. All they need to do is add an option to disable it. There is already a search bar at the top of the app and it already has a shortcut assigned... why the need to add it to a right click as well?!?!

[#9]

@Damien17 

The VBA code to remove an item from the Cell right-click menu is only one line.
A possible catch is that the name of the item to remove must match exactly with what appears on the menu.
And, and, and any character that is underlined in that items name must have the "&" sign in front it.
So the code is...
'---
Sub RelievePain()
Application.CommandBars("Cell").Controls("Search the Menus").Delete
End Sub
'---
The control name in the above must have the "&" sign entered (no quote marks)
As I dont have the control on my excel version, it is up to you to place it properly.
Matching the case of the characters on the menu should also be done.


'---
Nothing Left to Lose
https://1drv.ms/u/s!Au8Lyt79SOuhZw2MCH7_7MuLj04?e=sAwbHU
(free excel programs)

[#10]

@Nothing_Left_to_Lose 

That was a a tip in the right direction, BUT I have listed all Application.CommandBars and there is no "Search the menus" entry. I have also tried MenuRighter with the same result. (About the & sign issue, I looked at the menu entries one by one instead of searching).

It seems "Search the menus" is hidden somewhere else.

Microsoft® Excel® for Microsoft 365 MSO (Version 2211 Build 16.0.15831.20220) 32-bit

[#11]

No luck removing it but I found workaround for now. Pressing "tab" key on the keyboard moves the cursor out of the search box so one can use shortcut keys again. 

[#12]

@JanyG 

This change to the context menu is ridiculous. There must be an opt-out in the Advanced Preferences coming. I was going to say, "Frankly, anyone who doesn't know ctrl-f can search the document, isn't using the Shift-F10 context menu," but then I realized a lot of people right-click on the cells and look for the options. Who's going to right-click on a cell to search the whole document? Does that really happen? To people who have been using shortcuts with muscle memory for years, we need to be able to get rid of the search option. Or make it a tool in the list that you've got to click to engage. 

This is the worst update feature I have experienced in my 25 years of using Excel. They kept shortcuts to the Edit menu, but obfuscated the shortcuts in the active context menu. I don't get it. This may sound pedantic, but I'm not a programmer who makes a change based on some brainstorming work session where we all dream about what the customer wants; I actually use this tool, and it just got bent. 

[#13]

You could use the Feedback feature built into Excel through File | Feedback | Send a frown. This forum is mostly volunteers that are not employed by Microsoft. Occasionally, Microsoft people will post here but the feedback feature is a better way to be heard.

[#14]

@Patrick2788 

Done. I had no idea about the "Send a Frown" feedback option. My main purpose of venting here was to commiserate and maybe get a workaround. The idea that a comment of mine to an Excel workgroup would actually get to someone who could do something about it never occurred to me.

I eat, sleep, and breathe Excel. I dream in Excel workbooks. I daydream while driving or in the shower about better ways to utilize Power Query. To have such a fundamental change to my unconscious workflow, whipped up like a whim, has left me demoralized and doubting the future of robust applications that provide a keyboard based alternative to silly menus designed by those who don't use them in their daily lives. 

Say, "NO!" to Big Menu, people! Our workflow needs not be influenced by menu redesign!