Toolbars

Tips, Tricks, and Answers

The following articles are available for the 'Toolbars' topic. Click the article's title (shown in bold) to see the associated article.

Buttons for Workbooks
Most custom toolbar buttons are used to execute macros, and you can easily create a macro to open a workbook at the click of a button. You don't have to use macros, however, as this tip details.

Changing a Toolbar Button Image
Excel allows you to modify virtually all aspects of its user interface. One of the things you can change is the images used for almost all toolbar buttons. This tip explains how easy it is to change button images.

Changing Toolbar Location
Toolbars don't need to be tethered to the top of your program window. Although they are right at home there, you may want them some place else on your desktop. This tip explains how to "undock" toolbars and move them wherever your fancy strikes.

Creating a New Toolbar
Excel's interface can be easily modified to reflect the way you want to do your work. This tip explains how you can create a custom toolbar with just the tools you regularly use.

Customizing a Toolbar
Toolbars make it easy to quickly access your most common commands. Excel allows you to customize your toolbars so that they contain any or all of the commands you need. This tip explains how you can add new commands to the toolbars.

Deleting a Toolbar
After a time you may not need one of the custom toolbars you've created. This tip explains how to free up resources in Excel by getting rid of those unnecessary toolbars.

Displaying Toolbars
Toolbars allow you to access common tasks quickly and easily. Excel provides a wide variety of toolbars, and you can even create your own. This tip explains how to make Excel's various toolbars visible on the screen.

Editing a Toolbar Button Image
Don't like the toolbar button images in your version of Excel? Don't fret; you can pull up the button editor and make changes pixel by pixel, if desired. (It's easier to do than you think, although you artistic talents may be tested in the process.)

Getting Rid of Stubborn Icons
Icons are often added to toolbars by add-in programs for Excel. If you have trouble getting rid of such icons, there are a number of different things you can try.

Large Toolbar Buttons
You can configure Excel so that it uses large toolbar buttons on its toolbars. This can make the interface easier to use if the buttons normally appear too small for your tastes.

Making the Formula Bar Persistent
If your Formula bar disappears when you load a workbook, it could be due to the presence of a macro that turns it off. This tip explains why this can happen and discusses what can be done about the disappearance.

Quickly Removing a Toolbar Button
Want to get rid of a toolbar button? There's no need to drag open the menus and dialog boxes; just use the shortcut described in this tip, and you can permanently remove buttons very quickly.

Random Resetting of the Standard Toolbar
A workaround for disappearing customizations of an Excel toolbar.

Renaming a Toolbar
You can easily create custom toolbars in Excel. Each of the toolbars has a name, and you can just as easily change that toolbar's name at a later time. This tip shows how easy it really is.

Resetting Toolbars to Their Default
Once you've edited your toolbars, you may want to change them back to their default appearance and behavior. This tip explains how you can quickly revert to those defaults.

Resizing a Drop-Down List
A great tip on getting your drop-down lists the size you want them.

Saving Valuable Toolbar and Screen Space
Not only does Excel allow you to customize your toolbars, but you can also move commands from the toolbars to your menus. That's right; using the information in this tip you can actually move toolbar buttons from the toolbar to a menu bar.

Simplifying the Font List
Excel normally displays the font list on the toolbar or using the very fonts it is displaying. Here's how to change that behavior in some versions of Excel.

Toolbar Nuisances
When Excel pops up unnecessary toolbars upon opening a workbook, this tip will stop them.

Where is Toolbar Customization Information Stored?
When you make a change to one of Excel's toolbars, do you know where that change is stored? This tip explains the name and characteristics of the special file in which the customization is stored. Armed with this information you can transfer the customizations between systems and you can protect against loss of the information.