Saving Valuable Toolbar and Screen Space

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated July 23, 2022)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


You already know that Excel allows you to customize menus and toolbars to your heart's content. However, sometimes your toolbars become too wide, or you may not want to clutter the screen with new, custom toolbars.

Fortunately, Excel allows you to also place toolbar buttons on the menu bar. See that area just to the right of the Help menu? That can be valuable real estate for commonly used toolbar buttons. To move buttons there quickly, follow these steps:

  1. Hold down the Ctrl and Alt keys at the same time.
  2. Use the mouse to drag a toolbar button from its current position to the end of the menu bar.

You can follow these same steps for any other toolbar buttons you want to move. You can also use the standard ways of customizing your display to move toolbar buttons (choose Customize from the Tools menu). Either way, your toolbar buttons are in a unique place where you can always get at them.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2069) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Updating Document Links

If you establish dynamic links between documents, then you can force Word to update those links whenever you want. How ...

Discover More

Numbering Only Certain Lines

Need to add line numbers to a document? Word provides an easy way to add them, but some of the controls that configure ...

Discover More

Adding Half Spaces to Punctuation

Want a little more space just before some of your punctuation characters? You can add that spacing in a variety of ways, ...

Discover More

Solve Real Business Problems Master business modeling and analysis techniques with Excel and transform data into bottom-line results. This hands-on, scenario-focused guide shows you how to use the latest Excel tools to integrate data from multiple tables. Check out Microsoft Excel Data Analysis and Business Modeling today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

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 ...

Discover More

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 ...

Discover More

Buttons for Workbooks

Wouldn't it be great to have a workbook accessible with just a single button click? It's possible if you follow the steps ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is five minus 0?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the menu interface (Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, or Excel 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.