Tyler found that she was using particular Commands in Excel frequently. So the question is, "Is there any way to access those Commands no matter what Ribbon Tab I am working in?" The answer is, 'Yes'. This is done by using the "Quick Access Toolbar". The Quick Access Toolbar is a Toolbar that YOU get to configure with the Commands that YOU use most - its easy to find, easy to set up and easy to use! Follow along with Episode #1567 and learn how!
"Don't Fear The Spreadsheet: A Beginner's Guide To Overcoming Excel's Frustrations" by Tyler Nash, Kevin Jones, Tom Urtis and Bill Jelen Don't Fear the Spreadsheet
"This Book Makes Excel For Dummies™ Look Like It Was Written For Rocket Scientists!"
"The Learn Excel from MrExcel Podcast Series"
Visit us: MrExcel.com for all of your Microsoft Excel Needs!
"Don't Fear The Spreadsheet: A Beginner's Guide To Overcoming Excel's Frustrations" by Tyler Nash, Kevin Jones, Tom Urtis and Bill Jelen Don't Fear the Spreadsheet
"This Book Makes Excel For Dummies™ Look Like It Was Written For Rocket Scientists!"
"The Learn Excel from MrExcel Podcast Series"
Visit us: MrExcel.com for all of your Microsoft Excel Needs!
Transcript of the video:
Don’t Fear the Spreadsheet Podcast, Episode 4: Access Popular Commands Well, hey, welcome back to the Don’t Fear the Spreadsheet podcast, I’m Bill Jelen.
Today’s question from Tyler Nash.
Tyler Nash: So, there’s several commands that I have find myself using frequently but I don’t want to have to keep going back and forth, and back and forth on the tabs.
Is there any way that I can access popular commands from any ribbon tab?
Bill Jelen: What – Tyler, that’s a great question.
And this was kind of the complaint.
One of the complaints when Microsoft switched from the old menu bar to the ribbon because now you can only see, for example, 1/8 of the commands at any given time.
And Microsoft’s solution to this is something called the Quick Access Toolbars.
This tiny little strip up here.
And it’s really easy to add commands to the Quick Access Toolbars.
So, when you find a command that you’re using all the time, for example, maybe Wrap Text.
Right-click that command, and say Add to Quick Access Toolbar, and then that icon – see?
Wrap Text, you don’t get any words but you get the same icon appears up there.
So, as you’re working in Excel, if you find something that you use all the time, for example, Set Print Area, right-click and say, Add to Quick Access Toolbar.
And now you have Set Print Area up there.
Maybe back in the Data tab.
If you like to sort, you would want to add Sort Ascending and Sort Descending, both to the Quick Access Toolbar.
If you find yourself actually using this a lot, then you might want to move that Quick Access Toolbar closer to the spreadsheet.
So you can, right-click and say Show Below the Ribbon and that actually gets it closer to your work area.
Your call.
The other advantage here is then you have the full screen for those icons to go across before it goes down to a second row.
Another command that you don’t necessarily find all the time but will happen if you go to the File command, when there’s nothing opened, is the Recent Files.
And an easy way to get to that is this little drop-down here that they added in Excel 2010 with some popular commands, and Open Recent File is there, alright.
Now, one caution as you’re trying to add things, you might say, “Oh, well, I want to add the red.
I want to be able to fill cells with red.
And so you open this drop-down up, you come here to the red, and you right-click but unfortunately, it’s not going to add red to the Quick Access Toolbar.
It’s going to add the entire gallery.
So then you’re going to have to, well, let’s try this.
So we open this up, change that one to red.
Now it does remember so I can simply click, but if you wanted like one for red, one for blue, one for yellow, that’s just not going to work.
So, almost all the time, you can right-click and add something to the Quick Access Toolbar.
Every once in a while, though, you run into something that doesn’t.
The other thing to watch out for - Let me see if I can find one here, is the commands without an icon. <inaudible> to them, Microsoft in - I don't know.
I don't know what else they could have done.
But when you add these to the Quick Access Toolbar, you get the green crystal ball icon and you’ll find that sometimes you end up with 4 or 5 different green crystal balls which kind of means like you have to be a fortune-teller to figure out what the heck each one does.
With other than, of course, hovering to see the tool tip.
So, there you go.
Hey, a good way to keep all of your favourite icons in view all the time.
If you actually get all the icons that you need, you could even minimize the ribbon to give yourself some more room in the spreadsheets.
[ Music ] Tyler Nash: Thanks for stopping by.
We’ll see you next episode.
Check out Don’t Fear the Spreadsheet, this book made itself for dummies, look like it was written for rocket scientists.
Today’s question from Tyler Nash.
Tyler Nash: So, there’s several commands that I have find myself using frequently but I don’t want to have to keep going back and forth, and back and forth on the tabs.
Is there any way that I can access popular commands from any ribbon tab?
Bill Jelen: What – Tyler, that’s a great question.
And this was kind of the complaint.
One of the complaints when Microsoft switched from the old menu bar to the ribbon because now you can only see, for example, 1/8 of the commands at any given time.
And Microsoft’s solution to this is something called the Quick Access Toolbars.
This tiny little strip up here.
And it’s really easy to add commands to the Quick Access Toolbars.
So, when you find a command that you’re using all the time, for example, maybe Wrap Text.
Right-click that command, and say Add to Quick Access Toolbar, and then that icon – see?
Wrap Text, you don’t get any words but you get the same icon appears up there.
So, as you’re working in Excel, if you find something that you use all the time, for example, Set Print Area, right-click and say, Add to Quick Access Toolbar.
And now you have Set Print Area up there.
Maybe back in the Data tab.
If you like to sort, you would want to add Sort Ascending and Sort Descending, both to the Quick Access Toolbar.
If you find yourself actually using this a lot, then you might want to move that Quick Access Toolbar closer to the spreadsheet.
So you can, right-click and say Show Below the Ribbon and that actually gets it closer to your work area.
Your call.
The other advantage here is then you have the full screen for those icons to go across before it goes down to a second row.
Another command that you don’t necessarily find all the time but will happen if you go to the File command, when there’s nothing opened, is the Recent Files.
And an easy way to get to that is this little drop-down here that they added in Excel 2010 with some popular commands, and Open Recent File is there, alright.
Now, one caution as you’re trying to add things, you might say, “Oh, well, I want to add the red.
I want to be able to fill cells with red.
And so you open this drop-down up, you come here to the red, and you right-click but unfortunately, it’s not going to add red to the Quick Access Toolbar.
It’s going to add the entire gallery.
So then you’re going to have to, well, let’s try this.
So we open this up, change that one to red.
Now it does remember so I can simply click, but if you wanted like one for red, one for blue, one for yellow, that’s just not going to work.
So, almost all the time, you can right-click and add something to the Quick Access Toolbar.
Every once in a while, though, you run into something that doesn’t.
The other thing to watch out for - Let me see if I can find one here, is the commands without an icon. <inaudible> to them, Microsoft in - I don't know.
I don't know what else they could have done.
But when you add these to the Quick Access Toolbar, you get the green crystal ball icon and you’ll find that sometimes you end up with 4 or 5 different green crystal balls which kind of means like you have to be a fortune-teller to figure out what the heck each one does.
With other than, of course, hovering to see the tool tip.
So, there you go.
Hey, a good way to keep all of your favourite icons in view all the time.
If you actually get all the icons that you need, you could even minimize the ribbon to give yourself some more room in the spreadsheets.
[ Music ] Tyler Nash: Thanks for stopping by.
We’ll see you next episode.
Check out Don’t Fear the Spreadsheet, this book made itself for dummies, look like it was written for rocket scientists.
