Office 2007: The Missing Manual

Appendix A.  Customizing the Quick Access Toolbar

In previous versions of Office, you could move toolbars, rearrange buttons, and even scramble the order of items in the main menu. Reckless customizers could transform Office applications so completely that no one else would be able to use their computers, and the instructions in books like this one would be useless.

Office 2007 clamps down on customization. Unless you’re willing to get your hands dirty with a serious programming language, the ribbon is off limits. Instead, Office lets you customize one tiny portion of screen real estate—the Quick Access toolbar. This appendix teaches you how to modify the Quick Access toolbar in all of the programs covered in this book: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Access.

This limitation might sound like a major one, but it’s actually a reasonable compromise. People who love to tweak and refine their workplaces (you know who you are) get to add all the timesaving shortcuts they need. Everyone else can relax. No matter what computer you’re working on, the ribbon is always there, with its comforting sameness and carefully organized tabs.

The Quick Access Toolbar

You’ve already seen the Quick Access toolbar (known to Office nerds as the QAT). It’s the micro-size toolbar that sits above the ribbon. The Quick Access toolbar has only icons, but you can hover over a button to get the full command text.

When you first start out with Office, the Quick Access toolbar is a lonely place, with buttons ...