Tips, Tricks & Tweaks for Internet Explorer browser

Here are some Internet Explorer Tips, Tricks, Tweaks, and Registry fixes that work with Internet Explorer. These tips will help you customize your Internet Explorer.

Internet Explorer Tips, Tricks & Tweaks

1] Keep the Menu Bar always visible

Currently, to view the Menu Bar, a user can hit ALT on the keyboard to temporarily view the Menu Bar.

To keep the Menu Bar always visible, Open Regedit via Start Menu\Run\Regedit.

• Navigate to the following location:  HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Policies\ Microsoft
• Right-Click Microsoft select New then click Key.
• Name this key Internet Explorer
• Right-Click Internet Explorer select New, then click Key
• Name this key Main
• Right-Click Main select New, then click DWord (32-Bit) Value
• Name this value AlwaysShowMenus and set its value to 1

Now hit ALT on your keyboard, and the menu bar should remain. To remove, either set the value to 0 or remove the AlwaysShowMenus value.

2] Always load Internet Explorer in Full-Screen Mode

Currently, to view IE9 in Full-screen Mode, a user can hit the F11key on the keyboard.

To always load Internet Explorer in Full Screen Mode, Open Regedit

• Navigate to the following location:  HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Microsoft\ Internet Explorer\ Main
• To the right of main locate the value Fullscreen
• Change the Fullscreen value to Yes

Now when you open Internet Explorer, it will be in full-screen Mode. To revert, set the value back to No. You can also toggle between Normal and Full-screen Mode by hitting F11 on your keyboard.

3] Move the Menu Bar to the Top of Internet Explorer

UPDATE: In the final release of Internet Explorer, the Menu Bar At Top tweak does not work.

The Menu Bar currently is located below the Search Box. Though not recommended as there are some side effects, to move the menu Bar to the top of Internet Explorer you can do the following.

To move the Menu Bar to the top of Internet Explorer 9, Open Regedit

• Navigate to the following location: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Microsoft\ Internet Explorer\ Toolbar\ WebBrowser
• Right-Click WebBrowser select New then click DWORD (32-bit) Value.
• Name this value ITBar7Position and set its value to 1

Now when you open Internet Explore, the Menu Bar will be above the Search Box. To remove, either set the value to 0 or remove the ITBar7Position value.

Known side effects from moving the Menu Bar to the top are it adds a small window border to the top. It also removes the ability to move the Internet Explorer window by dragging its borders. Will also add a black background effect behind the tabs. To move the Internet Explorer window, you can drag the window by clicking on the black area and dragging. When going into Fullscreen Mode, the Menu Bar is no longer visible.

4] Enable More Simultaneous Downloads

If you have trouble downloading more than two files from a single website. You can try this Registry Edit to enable more than 2.

To enable more simultaneous downloads in Internet Explorer 9, Open Regedit

• Navigate to the following location:  HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Internet Settings
• Right-Click Internet Settings select New then click DWORD (32-bit) Value.
• Name this value MaxConnectionsPerServer and set its value to 4.
• Right-Click Internet Settings select New then click DWORD (32-bit) Value.
• Name this value MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server and set its value to 6. You can set both of these to as many as you want, but settings them to 4 and 6 is a safe number

You should now be able to download more than two downloads at the same time. To revert, just remove the two values.

5] Run InPrivate Mode Automatically when you run Internet Explorer

If you like running your IE in InPrivate Mode, you will notice the ability to run InPrivate Mode Automatically has been removed by Microsoft.

The alternative to running in InPrivate Mode Automatically is to create a shortcut to InPrivate Mode, For example, a new IE shortcut on your desktop

• Right-Click on the desktop, Select New, next select Shortcut.
• Type the following in the path box: "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" -private (The path will be the path to Internet Explorer, then add -private after ending quotes)

Click next and give it a name. Now you can run InPrivate Mode Automatically by running the shortcut

A few IE tips without the use of hacks

• To open a new tab, just Double-Click, and area to the right of the tab boxes, without having to click the little blank Tab Box.
• Right-click a blank area and hit the Favorites bar to enable the Favorites bar.
• Right-click a blank area and hit Command bar to enable the Command Bar.
• Right-click a blank area and hit Status Bar to enable the original style Status Bar at the bottom of IE9.
• Right-click a blank area and hit Move Stop and Refresh to move the Search Bar Stop and Refresh from Right of Search Box to Left side of Search Box.
• To give more area to your Tabs and make the Search Box smaller, position your cursor between the Search Box and a Tab, when the Cursor switches to the Right/Left arrow, you can click and drag the Search Box to the Right or Left to either enlarge or make it smaller.
• Click the ALT key, then click View on the Menu Bar, click Style and select No Style to View the Webpage without Webpage formatting. Click Default Style to change the Webpage back to default.
• Hover over the Tools icon at Right and under Safety, click InPrivate Browsing to Start the InPrivate Browser Mode.
• If you are having problems viewing webpages, click the ALT key on your keyboard and under Tools, click Compatibility View.

You may also want to check out our freeware Ultimate Windows Tweaker or IE Tweaker Plus v2.0.