Group commands and free up some QAT real estate!

Office 2010 Quick Access Toolbar Tip – Add a Group of Commands at Once

If you haven’t already figured out that the QAT (Quick Access Toolbar) in Office is a true time saver, you’re missing out.  The QAT is designed to make commands more easily accessible without having to navigate from tab to tab to locate a command.  Commands are more easily accessible because the QAT is always in view.  The QAT can be positioned above the ribbon, or below.  If you’re like me, you’ve added everything you need to the QAT and have now run out of space.  What if you could add a group of buttons to the QAT that take up the space of just one button?  Think of all that QAT real estate you could free up!

Add a Group of Commands to the QAT

This example demonstrates how to add the Page Setup group of commands in Word, which has a total of 8 commands, including the Dialog Box Launcher which launches the Page Setup dialog box.

1. On the Page Layout ribbon, right click the group name Page Setup, and then select Add to Quick Access Toolbar.

The new button for Page Layout on the QAT will look like this:

When this button on the QAT is clicked, a drop down panel will appear showing all of the commands in the group, including the Dialog Box Launcher (small arrow in bottom right corner).

Want to add a command that is not in any ribbon?

1. Right click the QAT and select Customize Quick Access Toolbar.
2. In the Choose commands from drop-down box, select Commands not in the Ribbon.
3. Locate the command on the list and click the Add button.
4. Optional: Re-position the command by using the up/down arrows.
5. Click OK to add the command.