10 Windows registry hacks for Microsoft Office

Version 1 March 9, 2005

By Bill Detwiler

Opening the Windows Registry Editor

1. Click Start | Run
2. Enter 'regedit' in the Open field
3. Click OK

Disable copy clipboard dialog box

When you copy multiple text selection within Office 2000, Office XP, and Office 2003, the application automatically opens a dialog box that displays the current Clipboard data. To disable this dialog box:

Navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftOffice[version]CommonGeneral

Where [version] corresponds to your Office version: 9.0 = Office 2000, 10.0 = Office XP, and 11.0 = Office 2003.

Locate the DWORD value AcbControl or create the value if it does not exist.

Set the AcbControl value to 1. (Set the value to 0 to enable the dialog box.)

Close the Registry Editor and restart an Office application.

Prevent Office Help from resizing the application window

Office automatically resizes your application window when you access Office Help. To prevent Office from resizing the application window:

Navigate to:  HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftOffice[version]CommonHelpViewer

Where [version] corresponds to your Office version: 9.0 = Office 2000, 10.0 = Office XP, and 11.0 = Office 2003.

Locate the DWORD value IsFloating or create the value if it does not exist.

Set the IsFloating value to 1. (Set the value to 0 to enable resizing.)

Close the Registry Editor and restart an Office application.

Add custom shortcuts to the Places Bar within the Open and Save As dialog boxes

Office displays several shortcuts on the Places Bar in the Open and Save As dialog boxes, such as Desktop, My Documents, My Computer and so forth. You can add additional shortcuts to this list by:

Navigate to:  HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftOffice11.0CommonOpen FindPlacesUserDefinedPlaces

Where [version] corresponds to your Office version: 9.0 = Office 2000, 10.0 = Office XP, and 11.0 = Office 2003.

Create a sub-key named 'PlaceN' beneath the UserDefinedPlaces key

Where N is an unrepeated number starting with 1--for example; Place1, Place2, Place3, and so forth.

Open your new PlaceN sub-key and create two new String Values named 'Name' and 'Path'.

Set the Name value to the desired Place name, example 'Letter'.

Set the Path value to the desired path, example 'c:letters'.

Close the Registry Editor and restart an Office application.

When you use the Open or Save As dialog boxes your new Place(s) will appear, see Figure A.

Figure A

Hide default shortcuts on the Places Bar within the Open and Save As dialog boxes

Office displays several shortcuts on the Places Bar in the Open and Save As dialog boxes, such as Desktop, My Documents, My Computer and so forth. To hide one or more of these shortucts:

Navigate to:  HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftOffice[version]CommonOpen FindPlacesStandardPlaces

Where [version] corresponds to your Office version: 9.0 = Office 2000, 10.0 = Office XP, and 11.0 = Office 2003.

Select the sub-key of the Place you want to hide; Desktop, MyComputer, MyDocuments, Recent, and so forth.

Create a new DWORD value within the sub-key named 'Show'

Set the sub-key value to 0. (Set the value to 1 or delete the sub-key to show the Place.)

Close the Registry Editor and restart an Office application.

Reduce the shortcut icon size on the Places Bar within the Open and Save As dialog boxes

Figure C

Figure B

Office's default icon size for the shortcuts on the Places Bar in the Open and Save As dialog boxes allows you to view only about five shortcuts without scrolling or resizing the dialog box, see Figure B. You can reduce the shortcut icon size and dramatically increase the number of visible icons, see Figure C.

To reduce the shortcut icon size:

Navigate to:  HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftOffice[version]CommonOpen FindPlaces

Where [version] corresponds to your Office version: 9.0 = Office 2000, 10.0 = Office XP, and 11.0 = Office 2003.

Locate the DWORD value ItemSize or create the value if it does not exist.

Set the ItemSize value to 0 (the smallest size).

Close the Registry Editor and restart an Office application.

Disable Office Assistants

To permanently disable the often-annoying Office Assistants:

Navigate to:  HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftOffice[version]CommonAssistant

Where [version] corresponds to your Office version: 9.0 = Office 2000, 10.0 = Office XP, and 11.0 = Office 2003.

Delete all the DWORD values within this key.

Close the Registry Editor and restart an Office application.

Hide the 'Type a question for help' (Office Help) toolbar

The 'Type a question for help' toolbar normally appears in the top, right-hand corner of an Office application's toolbar area. To hide this toolbar:

Navigate to:  HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftOffice[version]CommonToolbarsSettings

Where [version] corresponds to your Office version: 9.0 = Office 2000, 10.0 = Office XP, and 11.0 = Office 2003.

Create new DWORD values for each Office application as shown in Table A:

Table A

Set each DWORD value to 1. (Set the value to 0 to display the toolbar.)

Close the Registry Editor and restart an Office application.

Use the standard system font for Office user interface

Office uses the default Office font for the Office user interface. To use the standard system font instead:

Navigate to:  HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftOffice11.0CommonGeneral

Where [version] corresponds to your Office version: 9.0 = Office 2000, 10.0 = Office XP, and 11.0 = Office 2003.

Locate DWORD value UseOfficeUIFont or create the value if it does not exist.

Set the UseOfficeUIFont value to 1. (Set the value to 0 to use the default Office font.)

Close the Registry Editor and restart an Office application.

Disable hyperlink warning messages in Office 2003

When you click on a hyperlink or an object linked to an executable file, Office often displays a safety warning message. To disable these warning messages:

1. Navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftOffice11.0Common
2. Locate the Security key or create a new key if it does not exist.
3. Select the Security key and create a new DWORD value named DisableHyperlinkWarning
4. Set the DisableHyperlinkWarning value to 1. (Set the value to 0 or delete the Security key to enable the warning messages.)
5. Navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwarePoliciesMicrosoftOffice11.0Common
6. Locate the Security key or create a new key if it does not exist.
7. Select the Security key and create a new DWORD value named DisableHyperlinkWarning
8. Set the DisableHyperlinkWarning value to 1. (Set the value to 0 or delete the Security key to enable the warning messages.)
9. Close the Registry Editor and restart an Office application.

Disable ClearType in Word 2003's Reading Layout mode

By default, Word 2003's Reading Layout mode uses Microsoft ClearType technology. ClearType can improve text clarity on LCD and laptop screens, but reduce clarity on some CRT monitors. To disable ClearType in Word 2003's Reading Layout mode:

Navigate to:  HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftOffice11.0WordOptions

Locate the DWORD value NoClearTypeNW or create the value if it does not exist.

Set the NoClearTypeNW value to 1. (Set the 0 or delete the value to enable ClearType.)

Close the Registry Editor and restart an Office application.