Customizing the Ribbon in Microsoft Office

Customizing the ribbon in Microsoft Office can help you save time by eliminating the need to switch between tabs.

Are you tired of searching through the commands in Microsoft Word?  If the commands you use regularly are in two different tabs, you might switch back and forth between these tabs several times while creating a document.  This can get tedious after a while.  There is a way to customize the ribbon in Microsoft Office products like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.  Using this feature, you can rearrange the icons on a custom tab to fit the way you use Office.

The tools you can use in Microsoft Office are located at the top of the screen. These tools are grouped into tabs, and each tab has a ribbon associated with it. In addition, at the very top is a toolbar known as the Quick Access toolbar. Depending on what you have selected, there may also be a context sensitive tab present. Each of these is labeled in the image below.

This short course will teach you how to create a new tab and add your favorite commands.  You save time when using Microsoft Office products because you won’t have to jump back and forth between multiple tabs.  You will even learn how to export these customized tabs to other computers, so that your desktop and laptop can have the same set of commands in the order you want them.