NWA-PCUG Newsletter Article, December 2003
How to make the toolbar YOUR toolbar
by Patricia Hill, Review Editor / APCUG Representative
Computer Booters of Sun Lakes, Arizona


Do you find yourself having to access drop down menus and clicking several times to perform repetitive tasks in the Microsoft Office product line? Did you know the toolbar is highly customizable? If the toolbar contains icons you never use - and don't think you will ever use - get rid of them! If you are looking for an easier way - with fewer mouse clicks - to do certain things, then add an icon to the toolbar. Here's how . . .

This article was written using MS Word 2002; the instructions are similar, if not the same, for previous versions of Word and other Office products.

Select Tools, Customize from the menu bar. You'll see three tabs in the Customize window; Toolbars, Commands and Options. Notice there is a check mark next to the toolbars that are always displayed when you enter Word. In the Toolbars tab select the toolbar you want to customize. It's probably the Standard Toolbar.

Once you've selected the Standard Toolbar (it will be highlighted or colored in), go to the Commands tab.

Let's add a File Save As button. File should already be selected in the left Categories pane. Scroll down the right Commands pane in the Customize window until you see Save As…. Drag and drop the button to where you want it in the toolbar. Select Save As… by holding down the left mouse button. Still holding down the button, drag the button to where you want it on the toolbar and release the mouse button. Now you're looking at lots of buttons and something that says Save As… This isn't exactly what you'd like to see, so let's modify it. It takes a few steps, but you'll be glad you took the time to do it.

Click the Modify Selection bar; then Default Style. The Default Style is a button that shows the button activity when you hover your mouse over it. The button is now blank. Click Modify Selection again and then Change Button Image. Click on the piggy bank, the third object from the left on the top row.

Your button now shows the piggy bank icon. It's a boring piggy bank - so color it in. Select Modify Selection bar a final time and Edit Button Image…

Pick a color and hold down your left mouse button and color the piggy bank. There's a small preview pane that's rather useless and you can move the icon within the button boundaries using the arrows.

If you're not sure in which Category a function you're looking for resides, scroll down the Category pane to All Commands and click on that.

If you want to add a new button that already has an icon, repeat the instructions in paragraph 3. Let's add the Grow Font and Shrink Font icons to the Standard Toolbar. Click on Format in the left pane of the Customize window. Scroll down the right pane until you see the Grow Font and Shrink Font icons. Select them one at a time and drag and drop them to where you want them on the tool bar. Because there is an icon already available, that's all you have to do. You don't have to mess with modifying it and selecting the Default Style.

To delete any icons you don't think you'll use, drag and drop the icon to anywhere in the Customize window. The key is to have the Customize window open. If you decide you want to put it back, reverse the process.

Another way to delete or add icons from the toolbar is to click on the down arrow at the far right of any tool bar. Click on Add or Remove Buttons and then Standard Toolbar. You'll see a list of all icons currently displayed on the Standard Toolbar. Some are black and some are grayed out. The black ones are the original toolbar setup when you first installed Word. The gray ones are the ones you used to customize your toolbar. If you want to add an original button to the toolbar, click on it and it'll move to the toolbar. If you want to remove buttons, then click on them and they disappear from the toolbar. Remember, though, if you want to group your buttons differently than Microsoft originally set them up, the Tools, Customize window must be open.

Drag, drop, customize, modify to your heart's content. Set up your programs so that they make sense to you and are easier for you to use. Make the toolbar YOUR toolbar.

There is no restriction against any non-profit group using this article as long as it is kept in context with proper credit given the author. The Editorial Committee of the Association of Personal Computer User Groups (APCUG), an international organization of which this group is a member, brings this article to you.

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