Getting Rid of Stubborn Icons

Barry has a stubborn toolbar icon that he cannot get rid of. A long time ago he installed TextBridge Pro, but has since removed it. He's deleted all its files and upgraded his computer's operating system. Yet, the TextBridge icon is still on Excel's Standard toolbar.

You should be able to remove items on the toolbar by displaying the Customize dialog box (View | Toolbars | Customize) and then dragging the icon from an existing toolbar. When you close the Customize dialog box, the icon should be gone.

If, when you restart Excel, the toolbar icon reappears, it is probably due to some macro that is running on startup and modifying the toolbar. Check to see if there are any such macros, and remove them, if necessary. (Remember that the macro could be in your Personal.xls file, as well.)

You should also check in your Startup folder for Excel (XLStart) and see if there are any workbooks in there that you don't recognize. If there are, they could be the source of the offending icon. Drag them out of the Startup folder, and then restart Excel to see what happens.

There are any number of other startup-related problems that could be causing the icon to reappear. A good place to start tracking down startup problems is by following the steps outlined by Jan Karel Pieterse at this page:

http://www.jkp-ads.com/Articles/StartupProblems.asp

If you still cannot get rid of the icon, there is one last thing you can try, as described in these general steps:

1. Create a brand new toolbar with nothing on it. Give it any name you desire.
2. With the Customize dialog box open, drag the offending icon to the newly created toolbar.
3. Close the Customize dialog box, then use View | Toolbars to turn off the new toolbar so it is no longer displayed.

Hopefully the offending icon will like its new home in the never-to-be-seen toolbar, and you can get on with using Excel without the distraction.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (3097) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.