Make it easy with the quick access toolbar
27 SEPTEMBER 11
ACCESS ALL AREAS
Have you ever found that you use one or two particular features of your Microsoft Office programs more often than others? Maybe you insert Footnotes into Word a lot, or Freeze and Unfreeze Panes in Excel all the time, perhaps you’re a stickler for using the Clean Up Folder command in Outlook. While the Ribbon is great for navigating around Office’s many handy buttons, it can be inconvenient if you’re constantly switching between tabs to get to its features. Well, whatever the program, and whatever the feature, it can be added to the Quick Access Toolbar for a conveniently customised interface.
The Quick Access Toolbars in Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote
The Toolbar itself can be found in the top left-hand section of your screen, just above the Ribbon. As you can see by the image above, it looks very similar no matter which Office program you see it in.
Have you ever found that you use one or two particular features of your Microsoft Office programs more often than others? Maybe you insert Footnotes into Word a lot, or Freeze and Unfreeze Panes in Excel all the time, perhaps you’re a stickler for using the Clean Up Folder command in Outlook. While the Ribbon is great for navigating around Office’s many handy buttons, it can be inconvenient if you’re constantly switching between tabs to get to its features. Well, whatever the program, and whatever the feature, it can be added to the Quick Access Toolbar for a conveniently customised interface.
The Quick Access Toolbars in Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote
The Toolbar itself can be found in the top left-hand section of your screen, just above the Ribbon. As you can see by the image above, it looks very similar no matter which Office program you see it in.
There aren’t a great deal of default features attached to the Toolbar (in the case of Excel for example, Save, Undo and Redo are shown), as the purpose of it is that you get to add and remove the features that you wish to use. There is also a down arrow icon at the right of the Toolbar, which opens up the options menu for it.
THE RIGHT TOOLS FOR THE JOB
Clicking on the down arrow icon will open up the drop down menu that will display a range of commonly added features that you can tick or untick. It also has an option called Show Below the Ribbon that will do just that: move the Toolbar below the Ribbon, if you find that to be a more convenient place for it.
The More Commands… option will bring up a more extensive array of features that you can add.
THE RIGHT TOOLS FOR THE JOB
Clicking on the down arrow icon will open up the drop down menu that will display a range of commonly added features that you can tick or untick. It also has an option called Show Below the Ribbon that will do just that: move the Toolbar below the Ribbon, if you find that to be a more convenient place for it.
The More Commands… option will bring up a more extensive array of features that you can add.
The menu that the More Commands… option brings up allows you to scroll through a greater list of the available features. It has 2 panes: The left shows the features available, the right shows the features currently on your Toolbar. To add a feature, simply click on the one you want in the left pane, and click the Add>> button between the two panes and its icon will appear on the Toolbar. To remove one from your Toolbar, select what you want to remove in the right pane, then click the <<Remove button in between the panes.
There are also two drop down boxes above the panels. By default, the left shows Popular Commands, but can switch it to show All Commands, Commands not on the Ribbon, Macros, or Commands from a specific Ribbon Tab. The right drop down box allows you to switch the option to have the Toolbar that you are altering apply to all of your documents, or just the current one that you’re working on.
If you know the feature that you want to add from the Ribbon, there's another way to place it on your Quick Access Toolbar: Right-Clicking it!
If you Right-Click the feature on your ribbon a menu appeas that lets you Add to Quick Access Toolbar. It will also give you access to the same options that the down arrow button opens up for you.
Essentially, the Quick Access Toolbar allows you to keep everything you use on a regular basis in the one handy spot. You can choose what goes on it, and what doesn’t, and where it’s positioned in relation to the Ribbon. It’s yet another way to help increase your productivity and make your Microsoft Office experience more user-friendly.
There are also two drop down boxes above the panels. By default, the left shows Popular Commands, but can switch it to show All Commands, Commands not on the Ribbon, Macros, or Commands from a specific Ribbon Tab. The right drop down box allows you to switch the option to have the Toolbar that you are altering apply to all of your documents, or just the current one that you’re working on.
If you know the feature that you want to add from the Ribbon, there's another way to place it on your Quick Access Toolbar: Right-Clicking it!
If you Right-Click the feature on your ribbon a menu appeas that lets you Add to Quick Access Toolbar. It will also give you access to the same options that the down arrow button opens up for you.
Essentially, the Quick Access Toolbar allows you to keep everything you use on a regular basis in the one handy spot. You can choose what goes on it, and what doesn’t, and where it’s positioned in relation to the Ribbon. It’s yet another way to help increase your productivity and make your Microsoft Office experience more user-friendly.
