Using menus, buttons, bars, and boxes in windows 7

Menus, buttons, scroll bars, and check boxes are examples of controls that you operate with your mouse or keyboard. These controls allow you to select commands, change settings, or work with windows. This section describes how to recognize and use controls that you'll encounter frequently while using Windows.

Using menus

Most programs contain dozens or even hundreds of commands (actions) that you use to work the program. Many of these commands are organized under menus. Like a restaurant menu, a program menu shows you a list of choices. To keep the screen uncluttered, menus are hidden until you click their titles in the menu bar, located just underneath the title bar.

To choose one of the commands listed in a menu, click it. Sometimes a dialog box appears, in which you can select further options. If a command is unavailable and cannot be clicked, it is shown in gray.

Some menu items are not commands at all. Instead, they open other menus. In the following picture, pointing to "New" opens a submenu.

Some menu commands open submenus

If you don't see the command you want, try looking at another menu. Move your mouse pointer along the menu bar and its menus open automatically; you don't need to click the menu bar again. To close a menu without selecting any commands, click the menu bar or any other part of the window.

Recognizing menus isn't always easy, because not all menu controls look alike or even appear on a menu bar. So how can you spot them? When you see an arrow next to a word or picture, you're probably looking at a menu control. Here are some examples:

Examples of menu controls

Tips

• If a keyboard shortcut is available for a command, it is shown next to the command.

• You can operate menus using your keyboard instead of your mouse.