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Windows XP and the Display - Desktop

Toggle Showing Underlined Letters in Menus

SUMMARY: Turn keyboard navigation letters inside menus in Windows XP applications on or off.

In some Windows XP applications, such as Notepad, the menu bar may not display underlined letters for each menu command such as "File", "Edit", or "Help". However, the keyboard shortcuts still exist - press the Alt key and the underlines magically appear.

If you'd rather have these shortcut letters always stay underlined, or alternatively if you never use these shortcuts and would rather have menu bars remain "clean" of underlined letters, perform the following tweak:

Note that this tweak will not effect every Windows application. Some applications may have their own settings for menu underlines, and some may ignore any attempt to change this feature outright.

1 Right-click an empty area of your Desktop and choose "Properties".

2. When the "Display Properties" multi-tabbed dialog box appears, click the "Appearance" tab.

3. Click the "Effects" button.

4. When the "Effects" dialog box appears, check or uncheck "Hide underlined letters for keyboard navigation until I press the Alt key" as desired.

5. Click "OK" to close the dialog boxes. Applications that recognize this setting should automatically change their menu bars to reflect your choice.