How do I get rid of ribbons and go back to old office menus?

Anonymous
2011-06-02T20:48:28+00:00

I have just purchased Office 2010. Sorry Microsoft but I hate it. Worst update of a familiar software product I have seen for a long time (and have worked in IT industry for 25 years) Why? Its the changes that have been made to the menus and the introduction of those dreadful ribbons. I can't find anything and waste ages looking for what should be the most obvious functions. Am seriously considering un-installing 2010 and going back to use older version.

Before I do that thought might ask if there was way of making 2010 suite look and feel like older versions without just binning it and starting again.

Many thanks

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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Anonymous
2011-06-04T08:36:45+00:00

The contributors to this forum are not Microsoft employees, do not speak for Microsoft and have little to no influence over Microsoft's design process. The reasons for the change to the ribbon have been well documented since its introduction, with the pre-release versions of Word 2007, at least 5 years ago and the arguments for and against have been waged ad nauseam in this and other forums and are resurrected time and again by late adopters - which is why, reasonable or not, Hans can say for certain that there will be no return to the menu driven structure of earlier versions. First and foremost this was a business decision to stimulate sales.

Microsoft's response to the demand for more hands-on user configuration has been to add a ribbon editor to Office 2010. There will be no patch to make Word 2010 use the interface of Word 2003.

The idea of a third party add-in, which attempts, but ultimately fails, to recreate the menu structure of Word 2003 is a cul-de-sac that ultimately will inhibit your ability to adapt to the new menu ribbon driven system. Better to fine tune the ribbon to your own requirements.

When I was first exposed to the ribbon - in Word 2007 - I can confirm that I too was annoyed at the change, and I did not like the change from 2007 to 2010 either, but now I use the latter all the time and only ever refer to the others for reference in connection with user support.

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HansV 462.7K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
2011-06-02T21:20:14+00:00

It is possible to return to the old interface, but I seriously recommend taking a bit of time to get used to the ribbon, for the following reasons:

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  1. Anonymous
    2013-03-08T00:13:13+00:00

    Templates! Don't get me started with that madness. I immediately assumed that a template for company letterhead, reports, forms, spreadsheets etc. would get us productive in ribbon ****... Only to find that "templates" are not saved into "my documents", but are buried deep in the program files where no one can find them - and they are not backed up in normal backup builds. Therefore templates disappear when the regular Windows slowdown requires a reformat of software. Yet more hours redistributing files and getting people back to work. Utter waste.

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-03-08T01:00:13+00:00

    The answer above is too simplistic.

    We really don't have a choice.

    We can use Word, in the current iteration, or try to learn a different wordprocessor that no one else uses.

    Of course there is a MS Word monopoly, whether they admit it or not.

    My computer crashed. I had to get new software.

    I had been using MS Office 2003 and was pleased with it.

    I had Office 2010 loaded, not knowing what I was in for.

    If I could, I would reload 2003, but it won't let me do it.

    As someone in another post says, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

    To say that we should just get used to it is ****!

    Why screw up something that works well?

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-03-08T02:17:56+00:00

    Templates! Don't get me started with that madness. I immediately assumed that a template for company letterhead, reports, forms, spreadsheets etc. would get us productive in ribbon ****... Only to find that "templates" are not saved into "my documents", but are buried deep in the program files where no one can find them - and they are not backed up in normal backup builds. Therefore templates disappear when the regular Windows slowdown requires a reformat of software. Yet more hours redistributing files and getting people back to work. Utter waste.

    You can serve the templates at startup with scripts or during regular maintenance at night or through Sharepoint or, if you really really really want to give users a chance to screw them up, put them in their "my documents" folder and just point there (backstage, trust center, trusted location...).

    I am sorry you find more enjoyment in whining than in stepping up to the plate when having some challenges spicing up your days and offering you the chance to expand your skills and know-how.

    BTW, Corporate templates need to be professionally designed by either an administrative assistant who has both long time experience as a secretary and expert fluency with Word, or by a professional Word template developer in accordance with your corporate benchmarks. They are not documents saved with the .dotm extension, like you may also have immediately assumed.

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