code from TextEditMenuListener class: public void menuSelected(MenuEvent menuEvent) { JMenuBar jMenuBar = (JMenuBar) view.getContentPane().getComponent(0); for(int i=2; i<6; i++) { JMenu jMenu = jMenuBar.getMenu(i); for (Component item : jMenu.getMenuComponents()) { item.setEnabled(view.isHtmlTabSelected()); } } }