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Windows Central
Windows Central
Technology
Sean Endicott

A newly resurfaced Office 97 Easter egg reveals Clippy’s secret role, proving the paperclip was trolling us long before memes

Clippy in the club.

Clippy, Microsoft’s infamous paperclip assistant, just resurfaced in the most unexpected way: a hidden Office 97 Easter egg that went unnoticed for decades. The discovery proves that even back in the ’90s, Microsoft’s devs were sneaking jokes into their software — and Clippy was already trolling users long before memes made him a legend.

It's not every day that I get to write about Office 97, but when an Easter egg is found in an ancient piece of software, I get the privilege. Recently, X user "Albacore" (@thebookisclosed) revealed an Easter egg that has gone unnoticed for decades.

If you perform a specific sequence of tasks within Office 97, you'll see a special treat. Specifically, a series of movements and key presses while using Microsoft Word will show a whole set of development credits.

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