Customizing the Quick Access Toolbar –
The Quick Access toolbar is always visible, regardless of which Ribbon tab is selected. After you customize the Quick Access toolbar, your frequently used commands will always be one click away.
About the Quick Access toolbar –
By default, the Quick Access toolbar is located on the left side of the Excel title bar, above
the Ribbon (see Figure below).
Unless you customize it, this toolbar includes four tools:
AutoSave – Periodically saves workbooks that have already been saved to OneDrive or
SharePoint
Save – Saves the active workbook
Undo – Reverses the effect of the last action
Redo – Reverses the effect of the last undo
If you prefer, you can move the Quick Access toolbar below the Ribbon. To do so, right-click
the Quick Access toolbar and choose Show Quick Access Toolbar Below the Ribbon. Moving
the Quick Access toolbar below the Ribbon uses additional vertical space on your screen.
In other words, you’ll be able to see one or two fewer rows of your worksheet if you move
the Quick Access toolbar from its default location. Unlike traditional toolbars, the Quick
Access toolbar cannot be made free floating, so you can’t move it to a convenient location.
It always appears either above or below the Ribbon.
Commands on the Quick Access toolbar always appear as small icons with no text. An
exception to this rule is drop-down controls that display text. For example, if you add the
Font control from the Home ➪ Font group, it appears as a drop-down control in the Quick
Access toolbar. When you hover your mouse pointer over an icon, you see a ScreenTip show-
ing the name of the command and a brief description.
You can customize the Quick Access toolbar by adding or removing commands. If you
find that you use some Excel commands frequently, you can make these commands easily accessible by adding them to your Quick Access toolbar. You can also rearrange the order of
the icons.
As far as we can tell, there is no limit to the number of commands that you can add. The
Quick Access toolbar always displays only a single line of icons. If the number of icons
exceeds the Excel window width, it displays an additional icon at the end: More Controls.
Click the More Controls icon, and the hidden Quick Access toolbar icons appear in a pop-up
window.
Adding new commands to the Quick Access toolbar –
You can add a new command to the Quick Access toolbar in three ways:
- Click the Quick Access toolbar drop-down control, which is located on the right
side of the Quick Access toolbar (see Figure below). The list contains a few com-
monly used commands. Select a command from the list, and Excel adds it to your
Quick Access toolbar.
- Right-click any control on the Ribbon and choose Add to Quick Access Toolbar.
The control is added to your Quick Access toolbar, positioned to the right of the
last control. - Use the Quick Access Toolbar tab in the Excel Options dialog box. A quick way
to access this dialog box is to right-click any Ribbon control and choose Customize
the Ribbon then select the Quick Access Toolbar Tab.
The remainder of this section discusses the Quick Access Toolbar tab of the Excel Options
dialog box, as shown in Figure below.
The left side of the dialog box displays a list of Excel commands, and the right side shows
the commands currently on your Quick Access toolbar. Above the command list on the left
is the Choose Commands From drop-down list, from which you can filter the list. Select an
item from the drop-down list, and the list displays only the commands for that item. In
Figure above, the list shows commands in the Popular Commands category.
Some of the items in the drop-down list are as follows:
Popular Commands – Displays commands that Excel users commonly use.
Commands Not in the Ribbon – Displays a list of commands that you can’t access from the
Ribbon. Many, but not all, are obsolete or not very useful.
All Commands – Displays a complete list of Excel commands.
Macros – Displays a list of all available macros.
File Tab – Displays the commands available in the Backstage view.
Home Tab – Displays all commands available when the Home tab is active.
In addition, the Choose Commands From drop-down list contains an item for every other
tab, including the contextual tabs (for example, the additional tabs that are displayed
when a chart is selected). To add an item to your Quick Access toolbar, select it from the
list on the left and then click Add. The command appears in the list on the right. At the
top of each list is an item called <Separator>. Adding this item to your Quick Access
toolbar results in a vertical bar to help you group commands.
The commands are listed in alphabetical order. Sometimes you need to do some guessing to
find a particular command.
When you select Macros from the Choose Commands From drop-down, Excel lists all avail-
able macros. You can attach a macro to a Quick Access toolbar icon so that when you click
the icon, the macro is executed. If you add a macro to your Quick Access toolbar, you can
click the Modify button to change the text and choose a different icon for the macro.
When you finish making your Quick Access toolbar customizations, click OK to close the
Excel Options dialog box. The new icon(s) will appear on the Quick Access toolbar.
Other Quick Access toolbar actions –
Other Quick Access toolbar actions include the following:
Rearranging the Quick Access toolbar icons If you want to change the order of your
Quick Access toolbar icons, you can do so from the Quick Access Toolbar tab of the Excel
Options dialog box. Select the command and then use the Up and Down arrow buttons on
the right to move the icon.
Removing Quick Access toolbar icons The easiest way to remove an icon from your Quick
Access toolbar is to right-click the icon and choose Remove from Quick Access Toolbar. You
can also use the Quick Access Toolbar tab of the Excel Options dialog box. Just select the
command in the list on the right and click Remove.
Resetting the Quick Access toolbar If you want to return the Quick Access toolbar to its
default state, display the Quick Access Toolbar tab of the Excel Options dialog box and click
the Reset button. Then choose Reset Only Quick Access Toolbar. The Quick Access toolbar
then displays its four default commands.