Your Customized Excel Toolbars

Yesterday I posted a tip for adding the Refresh All button to the PivotTable toolbar, so you can quickly update all the pivot tables and queries in a workbook.

Move Toolbar Buttons

In the comments, Jan Karel Pieterse mentioned that he can press Ctrl+Shift, or hold the Alt key, then drag toolbar buttons to a different toolbar. I can’t get that Ctrl+Shift shortcut to work, but often use the Alt key to adjust toolbars on the fly.

In another comment, AlexJ described how he moves well-hidden menu commands, such as Show Formula Auditing Toolbar, to a toolbar, so they’re easier to use. Great idea!

See What Is Locked

Besides the Refresh All button, there are a few others that I add to my Excel toolbars.

For instance, when I’m creating data entry forms it helps to know if a cell is locked or unlocked.

I copy the Lock Cell button from the Protection toolbar to my Standard toolbar (Ctrl+Alt, then drag the button).

When I click on a cell, the Lock Cell button shows the cell’s current setting, and I can click that button to lock or unlock the cell. Very handy!

More Buttons for Toolbars

I also add the Record Macro and Visual Basic Editor buttons.

Those are copied from the Visual Basic toolbar, and Toggle Grid from the Forms toolbar.

What Buttons Do You Add or Remove?

• Are there any standard command buttons that you always add to your toolbars when you install Excel?
• Any standard command buttons that you always remove, because you never use them?

If you’d like to share a screen shot of your toolbars, upload it somewhere like TinyPic.com, and paste a link in your comment.

Or, if you’re feeling adventurous, you can open this Google Spreadsheet, choose Insert>Picture, and paste the picture link in there. I have no idea how well this will work, but it might be an interesting experiment!

[Update] Bryony’s Excel Toolbars

Thanks to Bryony who uploaded a screen shot of her Excel toolbars. Here’s how she described them:

• The colourful ones at the bottom in the middle are a few little macros, the toolbar to the left is my custom one. I have taken a load off the standard bars as I absolutely never use so many of those features. I have my screen resolution set quite high, so I have quite a bit of space left!

Wow, Bryony, that is amazing — the sign of a dedicated Excel expert!