Forming Up Your Genealogy--Part 17--Quick Access Toolbar

With Word 2007 and 2010, access to Word functions moved from a menu setup to the ribbon. When Word developers moved the commands to the ribbon, they picked the commands that were the most used. In addition, they enabled a Quick Access (QA) toolbar that is located immediately above the ribbons. I've written about the QA toolbar before in the post Displaying Buttons You Need. If you'll refer to that post, you find instructions for adding and removing buttons to that toolbar.

If you are going to create forms on a regular basis, you may well want to add the form fields (text, check box, and drop-down) to the QA toolbar to make them easy to grab on the fly.

In the screenshot below, you see that I've added the Legacy Tools group--and--the check box, drop-down, and text form field buttons. I added the Legacy Tools group because it includes more than the three form field buttons. I might want to use the additional buttons in the Legacy Tools group but I don't need them all the time. I know I'm going to be using the three form field buttons constantly; therefore, I added them as separate buttons.

Your other option is to create your very own personal tab with the buttons you want on it. That's what we'll talk about in the next post. 

...Oops...Forgot one button you'll need...Restrict Editing...

1. Locate the button on the Developer ribbon.
2. Right-click the button. A pop-up appears. 
3. Select Add to Quick Access Toolbar. The button appears on the QA toolbar. 

Adding the Restrict Editing button allows you to display the Restrict Formatting and Editing pane on the fly. The button is a toggle with an on/off position. 

Displaying Buttons You Need

In Word 2007 and 2010, Microsoft included ribbons across the top of documents rather than the menus that longtime users were accustomed to seeing. In addition, Microsoft rearranged commands in an attempt to gather them logically on the ribbons. If you bought a new computer and were unceremoniously upped to Word 2007 or 2010, the ribbons can present challenges as you relearn where all of your frequently used commands might be. Microsoft took pity on users and added a Quick Access Toolbar, which allows you to add frequently used buttons above (or below) the ribbon. Here’s an example of my frequently used buttons:








Adding buttons to the toolbar is a two-step process. First, you must display the Word Options, and then select Quick Access Toolbar. Second, you must move buttons from an available list to a selected list, and then click OK.

Display the Quick Access Toolbar Dialog

In Word 2007, click the Office Button, and then Word Options. The Word Options dialog appears.

In Word 2010, click File, and then Options. The Word Options dialog appears.








Select Quick Access Toolbar. The customize dialog appears.











Move Buttons

In the available list on the left, locate and click the button you want to add to the toolbar. Click the Add button between the lists. Word moves the button to the selected list on the right. When you have all of the buttons you want in the selected list, click OK. The dialog closes and the buttons appear above the ribbon.

In the future, click the button circled in red, and then select More Commands from the drop-down list. The customize dialog appears. Use the dialog to add or remove buttons on the fly.