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Customize Quick Access Toolbar | Ribbon Bar – Office 2010

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The Microsoft Office 2010 Quick Access Toolbar and Ribbon Bar provide a real productivity boost for Office 2010 users. Originally introduced in Office 2007, Microsoft has continued to expand and enhance the functionality of both the Quick Access Toolbar and the Office Ribbon Bar.

Both elements represented a significant departure from the user interface of pre-2007 versions of Microsoft’s venerable Office suite.

While both are useful in their default configurations users can easily customize them both. Here is how to customize the Quick Access Toolbar and the Ribbon Bar for your individual needs. Gain increased efficiency and productivity with Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Publisher and Access.

Users of Microsoft Office 2007 should also check out the post on “Increased Productivity with Microsoft Office 2007” as this post is specific to Office 2010.

A key change in Office 2010 is the introduction of the Quick Access Toolbar and Ribbon Bar in Microsoft Outlook. Along with adding productivity and efficiency benefits to Outlook, this transition also provides a consistent look and feel of the Office Ribbon Bar and Quick Access Toolbar across the full Office suite. A number of other changes have made these elements easier to use and more user-friendly.

Quick Access Toolbar and Ribbon Bar Basics

The standard configuration for Microsoft Excel 2010 is shown below in Figure 1.  The default Home Tab is selected and the Quick Access Toolbar is located at the top of the screen to the right of the Excel icon. The Quick Access Toolbar icons are highlighted with a red box and arrow. Directly below the Toolbar is the Ribbon Bar with its series of tabs.

Figure 1 – Default Quick Access Toolbar & Ribbon Bar

Customizing the Quick Access Toolbar Functions

There are a few default commands included on the Quick Access Toolbar however they are rather limited. They include commands like Opening and Saving documents and Undo and Redo. The real power of the Quick Access Toolbar is in adding commands that you regularly use and customizing it to your own needs. The customization process will make the toolbar significantly more useful while requiring less clicks to access the most commonly used commands.

Commands can be easily added to the toolbar by clicking on the small drop down arrow at the right end of the Quick Access Toolbar (see Figure 2). Clicking on this arrow will display a menu (Figure 2) that allows you to select or deselect basic functions from a pre-configured list.

quick_access_toolbar
Figure 2 – Quick Access Toolbar Customization Dropdown

After selecting a command from the list it will be added to the Quick Access Toolbar at the top of the screen. As more items from the list or from the More Commands section discussed below are added the size of the Quick Access Toolbar will grow, potentially looking something like Figure 3 below.

Customized Microsoft Word Quick Access Toolbar

Adding More Commands to the Quick Access Toolbar

The Customize Quick Access Toolbar dropdown menu allows for a narrow range of additional commands to be added to the toolbar. To access a significantly broader range of commands begin by clicking on the drop down arrow at the right end of the toolbar. The “Customize Quick Access Bar” list will appear. Click on the “More Commands…” selection highlighted in red below.

Figure 4 – Adding More Commands to the Toolbar

Selecting “More Commands” will display the “Customize Quick Access Toolbar” screen. From here you can select (highlight) any command in the left-hand column to be added to the Quick Access Toolbar. After highlighting a command click the “Add” button in the center to move the command to the right-hand column. When your additions are complete click “OK” at the bottom of the screen. The commands you selected will be added to the Quick Access Toolbar.

Figure 5 – Customizing the Quick Access Toolbar Screen

Modifying the Quick Access Toolbar Command Order

In Office 2010 it is possible to modify the order that the commands on the Quick Access Toolbar appear. The “Customize the Quick Access Toolbar” screen (Figure 6) also allows you to change the order that the commands appear on the Quick Access Toolbar. On the right side of the screen – highlighted in red box here – are Up and Down arrows. By highlighting a command and then clicking either the up or down arrow you can change the order of the commands. When done re-ordering the commands click “OK” at the bottom of the screen to save the order.

Figure 6 – Changing the Order of the Commands

Add Quick Access Toolbar Commands From the Ribbon Bar

A second method of adding and removing commands on the Quick Access Toolbar is to right-clicking on a command in the toolbar or on the Ribbon Bar. This is illustrated in Figure 7 below where by right clicking on the Header command on the Ribbon Bar a menu appears. Selecting the first item, “Add to Quick Access Toolbar “that the arrow is pointing at will add the command to the toolbar. You can do this for any command in the Ribbon Bar.

Figure 7 – Use Ribbon Bar to Add A Toolbar Command

Just as right clicking allows an item to be added to the toolbar, a similar action will allow the removal of a command from the Quick Access Toolbar. Simply right click on the exisitng command in the toolbar that you want to remove. This will display a menu as in Figure 8. Select the option “Remove from Quick Access Toolbar” that the red arrow points to. The command wil immediately be removed from the toolbar.

Figure 8 – Remove a Command from the Quick Access Toolbar

Modifying Display Properties – Ribbon Bar and Quick Access Toolbar

Office 2010 provides a few different methods to control how the Ribbon Bar and Quick Access Toolbar are displayed or hidden. In the menus shown in both Figure 7 & Figure 8 there are additional options including:

  1. Customize the Quick Access Toolbar – this will take you to the toolbar customization screen shown in Figure 5.
  2. Show Quick Access Toolbar Below the Ribbon – selecting this option will reverse the order in which the two elements are displayed with the toolbar now showing below the Ribbon Bar.
  3. Customize the Ribbon Bar – this will open the Ribbon Bar customization screen which is similar to the toolbar customization screen in Figure 5 & 6.
  4. Minimize the Ribbon Bar — this will hide (collapse) the bar except for the section titles such as “Home”, “Insert” and “Page Layout”.  Figure 9 below shows Microsoft Word with the minimized Ribbon Bar.
Figure 9 – Ribbon Bar Minimized

Another way to minimize the Ribbon Bar is by clicking on a small arrow head on the far right side of the screen directly below the icons for maximizing, minimizing and closing the application (Word, Excel, Outlook, etc.) as shown in Figure 10.  This little arrow head, highlighted by the red arrow in the diagram works as a toggle. Click the arrow head once and the Ribbon Bar will minimize (collapse), click the arrow head a second time and the Ribbon Bar will return to its full size.

Figure 10 – Alternative Ribbon Bar Display Control

Quick Access Toolbar Customization – Try It, You’ll Like It

Although the customization process might seem a bit daunting at first, customizing the Office Quick Access Toolbar and the Ribbon Bar can produce significant benefits for anyone who uses Microsoft Office 2010 or 2007 regularly. With some relatively minor modifications to either element Office 2010 can become a significantly more effective tool. Give it a try and I think you will be glad you did.

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Increased Productivity with Microsoft Office 2007

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With the release of Office 2007 Microsoft introduced the Office Ribbon Bar and Quick Access Toolbar to increase user productivity with Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint. In the process these changes have caused a bit of user frustration. While both the Quick Access Toolbar and the Ribbon Bar can boost productivity for users in their default configurations, they can also be easily modified to make them much more user-friendly and effective.

This post will focus on modifying the Microsoft Office 2007 Quick Access Toolbar.  With a small amount of fine tuning you can significantly improve the usefulness of the Toolbar, simplify using Office 2007 and potentially increase your productivity with Office 2007. The examples below are from Word 2007, but the steps are similar in Excel and PowerPoint.

Office 2007 Quick Access Toolbar and Ribbon Bar Basics

The default configuration for MS Word 2007 looks like Figure 1 below with the Office Button  located in the upper left hand corner and the Quick Access Toolbar located directly to the right of the Office Button. The Quick Access Toolbar is highlighted here with a red box and arrow. Directly below the Toolbar is the Ribbon Bar.

Default Quick Access Toolbar

Figure 1. – Default Office 2007 Quick Access Toolbar and Ribbon bar

Modifying the Office Quick Access Toolbar

There are a few default commands included on the Quick Access Toolbar but they are limited to basic functionality like Opening and Saving documents. Adding more commands will make the Toolbar significantly more useful. Additional commands can be easily added by clicking on the small drop down arrow at the right end of the Access Toolbar. Clicking on this arrow will display a menu (see Figure 2.) that allows you to add or remove commands from the Quick Access Toolbar. Click on an item to select or de-select it.

Quick Access Toolbar Customization

Figure 2 – Office 2007 Quick Access Toolbar Customization Drop Down

Selecting a command on the drop down list will add the command to the Quick Access Toolbar at the top of the screen. Selecting more items from the list will create a Quick Access Toolbar that looks like Figure 3 below.

Customized and Expanded Quick Access Toolbar

Figure 3. – Customized & Expanded Quick Access Toolbar

Expanding the Quick Access Toolbar with Additional Commands

There are two other methods for adding additional commands and functionality to the Toolbar. Start by clicking on the Drop Down Arrow at the right end of the Quick Access Toolbar. The “Customize Quick Access Bar” list will appear. Click on the “More Commands…” selection that is highlighted in red in Figure 4.

Inserting Additional Commands in the Quick Access Toolbar

Figure 4. – Adding More Commands to Toolbar

Selecting “More Commands” will then take you to the “Customize the Quick Access Toolbar” screen where you can select (highlight) a command in the left-hand column and then click “Add” to move it to the right-hand column. When you are done adding new commands to the right hand column click “OK” at the bottom of the screen. This will add any new commands you selected to the Quick Access Toolbar.

Customization Screen for the Quick Access Toolbar

Figure 5. – Customizing the Office 2007 Quick Access Toolbar Screen

Changing the Order of the Commands in the Office 2007 Quick Access Toolbar.

The “Customize the Quick Access Toolbar” screen (Figure 6. – Changing the Order of the Commands) also allows you to change the order that the commands appear on the Quick Access Toolbar. On the right side of the screen – highlighted in red box in Figure 6 – are Up and Down arrows. By highlighting a command and then clicking either the up or down arrow you can change the order of the commands. When done re-ordering the commands click “OK” at the bottom of the screen to save the order.

Changing the Order of Commands on the Toolbar

Figure 6. – Changing the Order of the Commands

Adding Commands to Quick Access Toolbar Directly From the Ribbon Bar

Another way to add commands to the Quick Access Toolbar is simply by right-clicking on a command on the Ribbon Bar. In the screen below (Figure 7) the “B” or Bold command has been right-clicked. This then displays the four item menu as shown. Click on the first selection, “Add to Quick Access Toolbar”, that the arrow is pointing at. The command will then appear on the Quick Access Toolbar.

Add A Command Menu

Figure 7. – Right-Click Add A Command Menu

Changing the Display Properties of the Quick Access Toolbar and the Ribbon Bar

The four item menu in Figure 7 also shows three other functions that bear mentioning. The second item on the list “Customize Quick Access Toolbar” brings up the screen shown in Figure 8 which allows you to directly modify the Toolbar and the order of the commands as explained earlier.

The third item on the list, “Show Quick Access Toolbar Below the Ribbon” allows you to change the location where the Toolbar sits relative to the Ribbon Bar. By selecting this option the Toolbar will now be located directly below the Ribbon Bar.

The fourth item on the menu list, “Minimize the Ribbon” hides the Ribbon Bar except for the section titles such as “Home”, “Insert”, and “Page Layout.”  The Minimized Ribbon Bar is shown below. Clicking on any of the section titles such as Home will cause the Ribbon Bar to open to its full height.

Ribbon Bar Minimized

Figure 8. — Ribbon Bar Minimized Below the Quick Access Toolbar

Give It A Try

With relatively minor modifications to the Quick Access Toolbar and the Ribbon Bar Microsoft Office 2007 including Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint can become  significantly more effective tools. The scope and type of modifications will vary with each user’s needs and work habits. Give it a try and see what makes the programs of Office 2007 most effective for you.

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Software: Locating Product Version Numbers

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Periodically you need to find the version number of a piece of software that you are using. Locating this bit of information is not always an intuitive process. However over the years a bit of a standard has developed for where the software product version number resides.

To locate this information launch the program and go to the Menu Bar at the top of the screen and click on Help (this is generally located on the far right of the Menu Bar). A drop down menu will appear with the last entry at the bottom of the menu being a selection for “About Yoursoftwareproduct.” Select the “About” item and a dialog box entitled “About Yoursoftwareproduct” will appear. This will generally contain product name and copyright information as well as the version of your product.

The dialog box may also contain information about updates, upgrades, and add-ons that are part of the software product. For example Internet Explorer will include information about the exact version number, such as 7.0.5730.167 as well as the Cipher Strength. Microsoft Outlook will include information on any Service Packs that have been installed as well as the product ID (serial number).

Notable Exceptions: Microsoft Office 2007

As always there are some exceptions to the rule. With Office 2007, Microsoft moved the version functionality (and quite a few other things as well). In Word 2007 you need to click on the “Office Button” in the top left-hand corner which will cause a drop-down menu to appear. At the bottom of that menu will be a button for “Word Options”. Click on that button and a Word Options dialog box will appear. Click on the “Resources” option at the bottom of the left-hand column. At the bottom on the far right of the screen will be the button for “About.” Excel 2007 and PowerPoint 2007 behave similarly. Of course you may not really need to jump through these hoops because you already knew you were using Word or Excel or Powerpoint 2007.

While the location of the product version number is not an actual standard it is close enough to make the “About” area the first place to look with any software product. Plus it’s a lot easier than trying to find the CD or printed manual from some software package you installed three years ago.

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Free PDF Creator add-in for Microsoft Office 2007

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A free Adobe Acrobat Reader has been available for years for reading documents in PDF format. However if you owned a version of Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) prior to Office 2007 and wanted to convert your MS Office documents into PDF format you needed to purchase a full copy of Adobe Acrobat for ~ $299. Another option is to purchase one of the lower cost software packages that allows you to create PDF format documents and provides a subset of the full Adobe Acrobat functionality.

With the release of Office 2007 Microsoft is now providing a free downloadable add-in for Office 2007 that allows users to save files in the PDF format.  Although this add-in does not provide all of the rich functionality of the full Adobe Acrobat application (filling in forms, combining multiple PDF files, etc.), it does a fine job of taking a single document and converting it to PDF format.

Microsoft Web Site for Office 2007 Free PDF Add-in States:

“This download allows you to export and save to the PDF format in eight Microsoft Office 2007 programs. It also allows you to send files as e-mail attachments in the PDF format in a subset of these programs. Specific features vary by program.”

You can download this free PDF creator Add-in from the Microsoft web site.  You should use Internet Explorer for this download as Microsoft may require you to run the Genuine Software Validation module to verify that you have a valid copy of Microsoft Office 2007.

UPDATE: With the release of Service Pack 2 for Microsoft Office 2007 the PDF add-in is automatically installed as part of the Service Pack. So if you are using MS Office 2007 and have not installed Service Pack 2 I would encourage you to do so as there are also a number of other benefits, including some performance enhancements for Microsoft Outlook.

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New File Formats for Office 2007 Documents

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With the release of Office 2007 Microsoft began using a new default file formats for Office documents in Word, Excel and PowerPoint 2007. The default formats for saving files in Office 2007 programs are quite different from the default formats for saving files in earlier versions of Office and the are not backwardly compatible.

The relatively easy solution address these new formats  is to change the default setting in the various Office 2007 programs (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) to the earlier versions. For Instance set Word to save documents in the Word 97–2003 format. A file saved in this format will be fully compatible with previous versions of Word. Remember, you need to change your default file format for each program individually. That is, selecting the “Excel 97–2003” setting in Excel won’t make Word also save its files in the Word 97–2003 format.

Office 2007 Converter Available from Microsoft

For people who are using an earlier version of MS Office (2000, XP/2002, or 2003) and receive a file in the new 2007 format there is also a converter available from Microsoft. It can be easily downloaded from the Microsoft web site and installation is very simple. This item is kown as the “Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats.”

According to Microsoft: “By installing the Compatibility Pack in addition to Microsoft Office 2000, Office XP, or Office 2003, you will be able to open, edit, and save files using the file formats new to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007. The Compatibility Pack can also be used in conjunction with the Microsoft Office Word Viewer 2003, Excel Viewer 2003, and PowerPoint Viewer 2003 to view files saved in these new formats.”

An easy way to download this utility is to go to the Microsoft web site and in the Search Box in the upper right hand side type “Office 2007 converter” This will take you to a link to the main page for downloading the utility and for learning more about how it functions.

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