diff --git a/src/vs/code/electron-main/window.ts b/src/vs/code/electron-main/window.ts
index a26de77fea4db4c930bbeebe75e60bec24dabb9d..085f6b48f6517fbeb75611818ad387addcf94f4b 100644
--- a/src/vs/code/electron-main/window.ts
+++ b/src/vs/code/electron-main/window.ts
@@ -656,8 +656,10 @@ export class VSCodeWindow implements IVSCodeWindow {
 	}
 
 	public setMenuBarVisibility(visible: boolean): void {
+		const windowConfig = this.configurationService.getConfiguration<IWindowSettings>('window');
+
 		this.win.setMenuBarVisibility(visible);
-		this.win.setAutoHideMenuBar(!visible);
+		this.win.setAutoHideMenuBar(windowConfig && windowConfig.autoHideMenuBar ? !visible : false);
 	}
 
 	public sendWhenReady(channel: string, ...args: any[]): void {
diff --git a/src/vs/code/electron-main/windows.ts b/src/vs/code/electron-main/windows.ts
index 7735e5d527f7b0e79b447797b975c5634813e1a2..32f4912623c85a88b3a14a457d79213365aa626e 100644
--- a/src/vs/code/electron-main/windows.ts
+++ b/src/vs/code/electron-main/windows.ts
@@ -1144,13 +1144,16 @@ export class WindowsManager implements IWindowsMainService {
 		// Update in settings
 		const menuBarHidden = this.storageService.getItem(VSCodeWindow.menuBarHiddenKey, false);
 		const newMenuBarHidden = !menuBarHidden;
+
+		const windowConfig = this.configurationService.getConfiguration<IWindowSettings>('window');
+
 		this.storageService.setItem(VSCodeWindow.menuBarHiddenKey, newMenuBarHidden);
 
 		// Update across windows
 		WindowsManager.WINDOWS.forEach(w => w.setMenuBarVisibility(!newMenuBarHidden));
 
 		// Inform user if menu bar is now hidden
-		if (newMenuBarHidden) {
+		if (newMenuBarHidden && windowConfig && windowConfig.autoHideMenuBar) {
 			const vscodeWindow = this.getWindowById(windowId);
 			if (vscodeWindow) {
 				vscodeWindow.send('vscode:showInfoMessage', nls.localize('hiddenMenuBar', "You can still access the menu bar by pressing the **Alt** key."));
diff --git a/src/vs/platform/windows/common/windows.ts b/src/vs/platform/windows/common/windows.ts
index f978e32945f382997509f251f8997704341b694f..07efadf2d823a53d038c084a0ef68ec19c0e7233 100644
--- a/src/vs/platform/windows/common/windows.ts
+++ b/src/vs/platform/windows/common/windows.ts
@@ -94,4 +94,5 @@ export interface IWindowSettings {
 	zoomLevel: number;
 	titleBarStyle: 'native' | 'custom';
 	autoDetectHighContrast: boolean;
+	autoHideMenuBar: boolean;
 }
diff --git a/src/vs/workbench/electron-browser/main.contribution.ts b/src/vs/workbench/electron-browser/main.contribution.ts
index 53fd98f68819fa09efb6457f954b128df91f188e..e80fed6b32599b75733f4fd4c6473eb189c7b32c 100644
--- a/src/vs/workbench/electron-browser/main.contribution.ts
+++ b/src/vs/workbench/electron-browser/main.contribution.ts
@@ -200,6 +200,11 @@ let properties: { [path: string]: IJSONSchema; } = {
 		'type': 'boolean',
 		'default': false,
 		'description': nls.localize('showFullPath', "If enabled, will show the full path of opened files in the window title.")
+	},
+	'window.autoHideMenuBar': {
+		'type': 'boolean',
+		'default': true,
+		'description': nls.localize('autoHideMenuBar', "If set to false, the menu bar will no longer be shown when pressing the alt key (linux / windows only)")
 	}
 };
 
@@ -226,4 +231,4 @@ configurationRegistry.registerConfiguration({
 	'title': nls.localize('windowConfigurationTitle', "Window"),
 	'type': 'object',
 	'properties': properties
-});
\ No newline at end of file
+});