Microsoft Office 2010 Quick Access Toolbar – quick tips

When Microsoft introduced the Ribbon in Office 2007 they took away our ability to easily customize the menus and toolbars that existed in previous versions of Office. Microsoft added the Quick Access Toolbar, a weak replacement for that lost customization.

The Quick Access Toolbar (“QAT”) lets you place frequently used control icons in one place so you don’t have to find them on the Ribbon each time you want to use them. The QAT has File Save, Undo and Repeat controls installed by default. You probably have your favorites that you use all the time. Why not add them?

Many Office 2007 users ignore the tiny QAT because they don’t know about it and can hardly see it. I suggest you get out your magnifying glass, locate it in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc., and use it. It will speed up repetitive tasks by reducing the significant extra number of mouse clicks that the Ribbon requires over a menu and toolbar interface.

Microsoft has improved its functionality with the soon-to-be-introduced Office 2010. Some of the following items will work in Office 2007 others may not.

Position the QAT below the Ribbon rather than above

1. Click on the drop-down control on the right side of the QAT.
2. Select Show Below the Ribbon from the drop-down menu.
3. The QAT is now underneath the Ribbon.

This saves you moving your mouse all the way across the Ribbon to get to your most frequently accessed shortcuts that you’ve added to the QAT.

Right-click Ribbon icons to add to the QAT

1. Right-clicking  on most icons will display a context menu with an item to Add to Quick Access Toolbar
2. Click the Add to Quick Access Toolbar to add it it the QAT.

Thanks go to my friend Ed Bott for teaching me/us this.

Take your QAT customizations with you

Do you work on multiple computers? Would you like to easily install your QAT customizations on all your computers?

1. Click on the File menu item (upper left).
2. Select Options
3. The applications Options dialog opens.
4. Click on the Import/Export button.
5. Select Export All Customizations.
6. Make a note of the file name where you are saving the file.
7. Copy the file to the other computer.
8. Open the Office application.
9. Click on the File menu item (upper left).
10. Select Options
11. The applications Options dialog opens.
12. Click on the Import/Export button.
13. Select Import Customizations File.

Do this for every Office application you customize. This will also export/import other Ribbon customizations you have made, if any.

Hide the Ribbon and use the Quick Access Toolbar

Click on the chevron control on the far right side of the application’s Ribbon tab bar, next to the question mark   in the blue circle. This will hide the Ribbon giving you lots more vertical screen space to work in. The QAT is still visible. If you need the Ribbon click on the same control to restore it.

Want to learn more? Here is a Microsoft video tutorial. And I suggest you get a copy of Microsoft Office 2010 Inside Out by Ed Bott and Carl Siechert.