Why Customize the Excel QAT and Ribbon
Did you know that you can customize the QAT (Quick Access Toolbar) and ribbon within Excel and most other Microsoft Office applications? Customizing the QAT and ribbon can save you time searching for commonly-used commands that don’t have a keyboard shortcut available. You can also add many commands that may not be accessible directly from the ribbon. It’s extremely easy to customize the ribbon and the QAT, and you can save your customizations to a backup file to share with colleagues, use on another computer, or keep as a backup in case you have to re-install Microsoft Office.
How to Customize
To customize the QAT, just right-click on any of the icons and then click the Customize the Quick Access Toolbar option. From there, you can add, remove, or reorder the icons/commands. You can also add commands by right-clicking on any command from the ribbon and then clicking the Add to Quick Access Toolbar option. See the video below for more details and instructions.
To customize the ribbon, just right-click anywhere in the ribbon and click the Customize the Ribbon option. From there, you can add, remove, or reorder the ribbon tags, tab groups, or even the commands. You can also create your own ribbon tab, group, and commands using the buttons in the dialog box. See the video below for more details and instructions.
To save a backup file, right-click anywhere on the ribbon and select the Customize the Ribbon option. At the bottom of the dialog box, click the Import/Export button and follow the instructions. See the video below for more details and instructions.
Example Files
The zipped folder below contains my personal QAT and ribbon customization files for Excel, Word, and PowerPoint. Feel free to use these as a starting point. I recommend first creating backup files for your own customizations in case you want to reinstate them.
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