How to View the Tool Menu in Internet Explorer 11, 10, 9, 8, and 7

The IE 11, 10, 9, 8, and 7 menu bar doesn't display by default

Windows Internet Explorer

Christiaan Colen / Flickr.com / CC BY-SA 2.0

By
Scott Orgera
Scott Orgera
Writer
Scott Orgera is a former writer who covering tech since 2007. He has 25+ years experience as a programmer and QA leader, and holds several Microsoft certifications.
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Scott Orgera
Updated November 03, 2019

When you first launch Internet Explorer, which is the default browser in Windows 8.1, 8, 7, and Vista and an upgrade option in Windows XP, the familiar menu bar that includes options such as File, Edit, Bookmarks, and Help isn't available. In older versions of the browser, the menu bar was displayed by default. If you want to regain this feature, set Internet Explorer to display the menu bar using the following steps.

Instructions in this article apply to IE 11, 10, 9, 8, and 7.

How to Display the Menu Bar for IE 11, 10, and 9

You can temporarily view the Menu Bar by pressing Alt on your keyboard, but if you want to permanently view the Menu Bar in IE 11, 10, and 9, do the following:

  1. Press Alt to display the Menu Bar.

    Pressing Alt to view the Menu Bar in IE11.

  2. Select View > Toolbars > Menu bar.

    Setting the Menu bar to view permanently.

How to Display the Tool Menu (IE8 and IE7)

Open the Internet Explorer browser and follow these steps to set the menu bar to display when you use IE7:

  1. In the upper-right corner of the browser window, select Tools.

  2. Select Toolbars > Menu Bar. The menu bar displays in the toolbar section of the browser window.

  3. To hide the menu bar, repeat these steps.

Alternatively, right-click a blank area of a web page to bring up the contextual menu. From this menu, select Toolbars > Menu Bar to display the menu bar.

If you run Internet Explorer in full-screen mode, the menu bar is not visible even if it's enabled. The address bar is also not visible in full-screen mode unless you move your cursor the top of the screen. To toggle from full-screen to normal mode, press ​F11.