Learn some new tricks with your Excel 97-2003 toolbars. Add new buttons for common tasks. Paste icons from other applications. Add words next to existing buttons. Episode 422 shows you how.
This blog is the video podcast companion to the book, Learn Excel from MrExcel. Download a new two minute video every workday to learn one of the 277 tips from the book!
This blog is the video podcast companion to the book, Learn Excel from MrExcel. Download a new two minute video every workday to learn one of the 277 tips from the book!
Transcript of the video:
Hey, welcome back to the MrExcel netcast, I'm Bill Jelen.
Last week we went to the Tools, Customize to turn off Adaptive Menus.
If you choose Tools, Customize and go to the Commands tab, there are two dozen categories on the left hand side and for each category, dozens and dozens of dozens of new commands on the right hand side.
So for example, if I choose the Edit category, I can look through the icons on the right hand side.
Here's an icon for Paste Values, I can take that icon while the Customize dialog box is shown and drag it and drop it on the toolbar.
So if I'm always using Edit, Paste Special, Values – just take the Paste Values icon and drop it right next to the Paste icon.
There's dozens and dozens of dozens of cool icons that you can add to your toolbars.
Now one icon that I usually have, is the Close icon and what's interesting in Excel with the Close icon, is they offer me the word Close, but they don't offer me the icon. if I switch over to Word, Microsoft Word, and go to Tools, Customize, sure enough there is a button with an icon for Close.
If I right click that icon and say Copy Button Image, and then switch back to Excel, I can right click the Close button and say Paste Button Image.
And now I will have the icon and the words.
To further customize that, right click again and I can say that instead of image and text, I want the Default Style, which will give me just the icon.
If there's other icons in the toolbar, where you'd like to see the words, for example a Format Painter, I always forget what that means, I can right click the Format Painter and say that I want to see Image and Text.
And now I will have the image and text.
Now you can't do this for all the buttons of course, you'd run out of space, but for the few that might confuse you, or you want to remember where they are, you can customize them while in Customize mode.
All of this happens as long as Tools, Customize, this dialog box is shown.
Once you close that dialog box, everything in the toolbars becomes locked down and you can't make the changes anymore.
There you have it, adding new buttons, changing the buttons or changing how buttons are displayed in your formatting and standard toolbars.
Thanks for stopping by, we'll see you next time for another netcast from MrExcel.
Last week we went to the Tools, Customize to turn off Adaptive Menus.
If you choose Tools, Customize and go to the Commands tab, there are two dozen categories on the left hand side and for each category, dozens and dozens of dozens of new commands on the right hand side.
So for example, if I choose the Edit category, I can look through the icons on the right hand side.
Here's an icon for Paste Values, I can take that icon while the Customize dialog box is shown and drag it and drop it on the toolbar.
So if I'm always using Edit, Paste Special, Values – just take the Paste Values icon and drop it right next to the Paste icon.
There's dozens and dozens of dozens of cool icons that you can add to your toolbars.
Now one icon that I usually have, is the Close icon and what's interesting in Excel with the Close icon, is they offer me the word Close, but they don't offer me the icon. if I switch over to Word, Microsoft Word, and go to Tools, Customize, sure enough there is a button with an icon for Close.
If I right click that icon and say Copy Button Image, and then switch back to Excel, I can right click the Close button and say Paste Button Image.
And now I will have the icon and the words.
To further customize that, right click again and I can say that instead of image and text, I want the Default Style, which will give me just the icon.
If there's other icons in the toolbar, where you'd like to see the words, for example a Format Painter, I always forget what that means, I can right click the Format Painter and say that I want to see Image and Text.
And now I will have the image and text.
Now you can't do this for all the buttons of course, you'd run out of space, but for the few that might confuse you, or you want to remember where they are, you can customize them while in Customize mode.
All of this happens as long as Tools, Customize, this dialog box is shown.
Once you close that dialog box, everything in the toolbars becomes locked down and you can't make the changes anymore.
There you have it, adding new buttons, changing the buttons or changing how buttons are displayed in your formatting and standard toolbars.
Thanks for stopping by, we'll see you next time for another netcast from MrExcel.
