Clippy is the key to this Office 97 Easter egg that went unnoticed for decades

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I don’t often write about older software, but discovering a hidden surprise in Office 97 was a treat. A user named Albacore (@thebookisclosed) recently shared an Easter egg that‘s been hidden for decades!

If you follow a certain set of steps in Office 97, you’ll discover a hidden surprise. By performing a specific combination of actions in Microsoft Word, you can view a list of the people who developed the program.

As an analyst, I’ve discovered a hidden feature! To unlock it, you first need to change your computer’s date to 1997 or any year after that. Then, while holding down the Control key, you can click and drag the standard toolbar to reveal it.

Next, move the toolbar in a circular pattern – left, down, right, and then up. Be sure to press and release the Control key after each movement.

Finally, search for the exact phrase “This is not a contest.” within Clippy, making sure to include the period at the end.

Albacore demonstrated how to get the Easter egg to appear and shared some other details on X.

It’s no wonder the hidden feature remains undiscovered after 29 years, given how complicated it is to activate,” the tech expert explained. “The helpful tips from Clippit are just a nice bonus.”

You can also make more animations appear by holding Shift while you press Search.

I’ve been trying to find this Easter egg, and honestly, I’m starting to think it was never meant to be discovered. The steps to unlock it are so precise – you have to drag a toolbar in a very specific way, and *then* ask Clippy a particular question – that it feels impossible anyone would stumble upon it just by playing around with Office 97. It’s just too hidden.

It seems this is just a fun way for the developers to acknowledge each other with hidden credits.

However, other hidden features in older software were just as difficult to find, like the secret pinball game in Word 97 and the flight simulator hidden within Excel 97.

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2026-01-13 19:39