Can't hide Menu bar in IE 8

[BadAndy]

I've been running W7 for quite some time now and I've never been able to hide the Menu bar in IE8. It has a check mark under View/Toolbars but it can't be cleared. Also, right-clicking on the area doesn't even show the Menu Bar as an option but it shows Favorites/Compatibility View/Command etc..

Is this something that can be corrected in the registry?

 

[Dwarf]

Hi Andy and welcome to Windows 7 Forums

You can correct this by modifying the registry. Open the registry editor and browse to the following location:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\

The option required is AlwaysShowMenus, and the data should be modified to read 0 to hide the menu bar.

 

[BadAndy]

Thanks for the welcome!

I forgot that I've already tried that without success, unfortunately. It's been set to 0 for a while.

 

[Desslok]

Thanks for the welcome!

I forgot that I've already tried that without success, unfortunately. It's been set to 0 for a while.

Just checking, did you log out/reboot after making the change?

 

[Brink]

Hello Andy, and welcome to Seven Forums.

You might see if after resetting Internet Explorer, you may be able to turn off the IE Menu bar.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[BadAndy]

Thanks for the welcome!

I forgot that I've already tried that without success, unfortunately. It's been set to 0 for a while.

Just checking, did you log out/reboot after making the change?

Yes. I've rebooted multiple times since that change was made months ago.

 

[Dwarf]

Hi Andy,

Do you have the option AlwaysShowMenus showing at this location?

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\

If so, delete it. Note that in order to modify data in this section of the Registry, you need to invoke the editor with administrative credentials.

 

[BadAndy]

Dwarf, it does not exist in that location. This is very puzzling!

Could it be caused by a GPO?

 

[Dwarf]

It doesn't exist in that location for me either. I just mentioned it because if it was a global setting, it would exist there. However, user settings will override global settings so if a setting is enabled globally but disabled on a user basis then the user setting would take priority.

Have you tried creating a new user account to see if you have the same problem?

 

[BadAndy]

It's working now. There's a group policy in our main Hardware OU that was killing the option to hide the Menu Bar in IE8. I'm not sure which one it is yet but will hopefully find it soon.

Thanks for all of your help!

 

[niebling]

SOLUTION: Registry Fix for Windows IE9 Menu Bar

Hi Andy and welcome to Windows 7 Forums

You can correct this by modifying the registry. Open the registry editor and browse to the following location:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\

The option required is AlwaysShowMenus, and the data should be modified to read 0 to hide the menu bar.

I tried this and it is only half the story - it didn't work. The HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE key also needs to be set... However, I did try the following three registry files to control this behavior:

Allow IE menu bar to be turned on or off (hit Alt-V) to show and then View > Toolbars > Select Menu Bar

Run this .reg file:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main]
"AlwaysShowMenus"=-
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main]
"AlwaysShowMenus"=-

Paste into Notepad and save as "Allow_Menu_Bar_On_or_Off.reg" for example.
Run the registry file or right click > Merge

OR:

Force IE Menu Bar Always Off:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main]
"AlwaysShowMenus"=-
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main]
"AlwaysShowMenus"=dword:00000000

OR:

Force IE Menu Bar Always On:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main]
"AlwaysShowMenus"=-
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main]
"AlwaysShowMenus"=dword:00000001

These three registry files work and are convenient to run when placed in a folder on your desktop... ie. 'Admin'

Ken Niebling