Stop Accidentally Showing the Ribbon Shortcut Keys

SUMMARY: While navigating through worksheets in Excel 2010, pressing slash on the keyboard shows the ribbon shortcut keys. Learn how to prevent this from happening.

While navigating through cells in a Microsoft Excel 2010 worksheet, have you ever seen letters and numbers appear next to options in the Ribbon like the below screenshot?

If so, you may have accidentally pressed the slash (/) key. Doing so activates the menu to satisfy compatibility with Lotus 1-2-3 users, who would normally press this key to access menu options. However, many younger accountants and computer users barely remember this program, if at all, and do not need this ‘feature’ occurring when their fingers slip pressing arrow keys. To disable this:

Ribbon shortcut keys appearing in Excel 2010 when pressing the slash key

1. Select the “File” tab in the Ribbon.

2. The Microsoft Office Backstage View appears. Click the “Options” button.

(Or instead of steps 1 and 2, press Alt + T, then the letter O.)
3. The “Excel Options” dialog box appears. Click “Advanced” in the left pane.

4. In the right pane, scroll down to the bottom. Underneath “Lotus compatibility”, click in the right side of the box next to “Microsoft Excel menu key” and press the Backspace key to remove this “feature”.

5. Click “OK” on the bottom-right of the dialog box to close it.