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Doing it your way with the Quick Access Toolbar: Crabby's Daily Tip

by
on May 10

If you know me (and many of you do), you know I'm about customizing. All of us are like snowflakes, each one a unique and special individual. We have our individual tastes, likes, dislikes, fashion sense, lack of fashion sense, love for the ribbon just as it is, want to make it our own...

The Quick Access Toolbar (QAT) is one that you create, containing all of the features and tools that you use. They're right there at the top of the window, and you can put whatever feature is available in that particular program in that toolbar.

And why would you do this?

  1. You don't have to hunt through tabs and groups to find the things you use the most.

    Example: The Page Layout tab in Excel contains the groups Themes, Page Setup, Scale to Fit, Sheet Options, and Arrange. But perhaps YOU think that Switch Windows should be in that grouping too. Well, you can't change what each tab contains, but you can add that Switch Windows command to your Quick Access Toolbar so that it's ready and waiting for you when you're on every tab, including the Page Layout tab.

     

  2. If you're on the Insert tab or even the Home tab, all of the commands that you add to your QAT are independent of those tabs, available to you whenever you need them.

    Example: Say you're busily working in the Data tab in Excel 2007 and you need to filter a set of data but you don't want to have to change tabs (since the Sort & Filter command is on the Home tab). If you have already added the Sort & Filter command to your Quick Access Toolbar, you just need to reach up to it, click the little arrow next to it, and tell Excel what you want to do.

     

  3. You can add to the QAT in just two clicks.

    Example    :  If you notice that you're using a particular command that is contained within a particular tab a lot of the time, and you want to add it to the Quick Access Toolbar, all you need to do is right-click that command and then click Add to Quick Access Toolbar

     

  4. You can move the Quick Access Toolbar quickly and easily.

    Example:  The default location for the Quick Access Toolbar is in the upper-left corner, next to the Microsoft Office Button.

    Quick Access Toolbar above the ribbon

    But if your eye naturally falls a bit farther down, you can move the Quick Access Toolbar below the Ribbon.

I've found that the best way to get an idea of what you want on your Quick Access Toolbar is to just start working and keep track of the commands, features, and tools you use the most. Then just keep adding them to your Quick Access Toolbar.

 Some resources:

— Crabby 

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Office Blogs Comments

Comments: (20) Collapse

  • Rick
    14,915 Posts

    Crabby,

    Is a QAT always "global" (as in "applies to ALL new and old documents I create) - or may I have a (perhaps) template-based custom QAT for a particular operation I perform daily?

    28 May 2010
  • 445 Posts

    Hiya Rick - The QAT "sticks" after you edit it -- meaning it doesn't change each time you open/close an existing or new document. However, there is no way to do a template-based QUA for a particular operation (but that is a really good idea and I'll bet some code desinger oculd figure it out...)

    28 May 2010
  • maggie
    14,915 Posts

    Dear Crabby - I am happy I can customise QAT but I also want to use ruler and, regardless of whether I have the QAT above or below the ribbon, if I use ribbon I cant see the second row of my customised QAT.  This makes me crabby too ...

    If you have any ideas how to fix this I would be very grateful

    best

    Maggie

    30 May 2010
  • maggie
    14,915 Posts

    sorry dear Crabby - I meant to type "if I use ruler" I cant see the second row of my very own QAT ...

    30 May 2010
  • Ann
    14,915 Posts

    I have a Word 2003 document that has a toolbar saved in it (in the document, not a template). Of course, in 2007 the toolbar does not show up. I was told that ok'ing macros, then using Add-ins to add the toolbar would bring it up in the QAT but I can't get it to work. Any suggestions?

    2 Aug 2010
  • Anne Davis
    14,915 Posts

    I would like to add the  'Close' icon to the QAT but it is only shown in File and the right click (great trick) won't work on it.

    Anne

    1 Sep 2010
  • 445 Posts

    Ann - I'm not sure what you mean by "but it is only shown in File and the right click " won't work. Are you using either Office 2007 or Office 2010? Because this toolbar works ONLY in those versions -- none previous (like 2003, XP/2002, etc.).

    If you DO have 2010 or 2007, write to me at MSFTCrabby@hotmail.com and we'll figure it out together.

    - Crabby

    2 Sep 2010
  • 445 Posts

    A note to anyone reading this: Ann found the answer to her issue: She was trying to find the CLOSE command in the "Customize Quick Access Toolbar" area and it wasn't listed. Then she realized that she was looking under "Popular Commands" instead of" All Commands" (which is where she found CLOSE). So she answered her own question and I couldn't be prouder...

    3 Sep 2010
  • Gary
    14,915 Posts

    I really need to enlarge the size of the icons in the QAT.  Is there a way??

    11 Sep 2010
  • adesham52
    14,915 Posts

    can i create my own toolbars?

    17 Sep 2010
  • 445 Posts

    @adesham52 : Not exactly. But customizing the QAT is pretty much like creating your own menu.

    17 Sep 2010
  • Francis
    14,915 Posts

    Where does MS Office save the Quick Access Toolbar settings?

    25 Oct 2010
  • Jim
    14,915 Posts

    How do you stop those "tooltips" boxes from appearing when you hover your cursor over an icon on a toolbar?

    2 Nov 2010
  • 445 Posts

    @Jim re "tooltips" - they're actually called ScreenTips and although you didn't tell me which verion of what program yo'ure using, I think this will solve your issue.

    Office 2010: File > Options > "General" heading > "User Interface Options" > "ScreenTip style"> Select "Don't show ScreenTips"

    Office 2007 - in programs that have the ribbon, follow the Office 2010 instructions

    Office 2007 programs that don't have the ribbon and versoins prior: I can't remember exactly how this is done, but you can find this same option by going to Tools > Options and hunting aorund....

    3 Nov 2010
  • Mark Johnson
    14,915 Posts

    Love the Quick Access Toolbar.  My problem is this:  I have many things on my Quick Access Toolbar in Office 2007 (including several personal macros), but now that I'm moving to Office 2010, I want to bring my existing Quick Access Toolbar.  I don't want to have to redo the macros and redo everything.  How do I activate my OLD Quick Access Toolbar in the new version?  In the same way, I have both a desktop and a laptop, and I'd like EXCEL and WORD to have the same configuration, again without completely redoing the whole Toolbar.

    14 Nov 2010
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