Keep The Menu Bar Visible In IE9

IE9 has some handy new features like jump list support and a pleasingly minimalist interface, but it can be tricky to get the menu bar on permanent display if that’s your preferred option. A group policy tweak should fix that problem.

You can temporarily display the menu bar in IE9 (and earlier versions) by hitting the Alt key, but that doesn’t help if you want it permanently on display. While there’s an option under the View menu’s Toolbar option to display the menu bar, the IE9 beta seems to ignore it for most users.

If you’re in that situation, the fix is highlighted on Microsoft’s own forums:

• In the Windows menu search dialog (or Run on earlier versions), type gpedit.msc and hit enter. This runs the Group Policy Editor.
• Navigate to User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Internet Explorer
• Double-click the “Turn on menu bar by default” option.
• Select “Enabled” and click OK.
• Restart IE

This won’t work if your machine is running a stripped-down version of Windows that doesn’t include the group policy editor tool, but for everyone else, it’s a potentially handy fix. Thanks Alex!

Unable to see the Menu bar in IE 9 [Microsoft Answers]