There are many toolbars that ship with MS Word:
- Standard - Contains common Word commands including, New, Open, Save, E-Mail, Search, Print, Copy, and more!
- Formatting - Contains commands for applying different types of formatting.
The ones listed above are the ones that you are most familiar with. What you may not be aware of though, is that there are many, many more toolbars that you can use, such as AutoText, Control Toolbars, Database, Drawing, Extended Formatting, Forms, Function Key Display, and that is the short list!
You can activate any of Word's default toolbars by right-clicking any visible toolbar and selecting from the drop down list of available toolbars. To see a complete list of Word's toolbars, follow the steps below:
- Click on Tools.
- Select Customize.
- Select the Toolbars tab.
- Place a check mark next to the toolbar you wish to activate.
But if you have taken a look at all of those toolbars and they don't have what you use all the time, don't get upset because you can just create your own personalized toolbar!
When I worked in a law office full time, I created my own Legal toolbar that held all of the buttons that I used all the time. Even now, I create toolbar buttons for my law office friends that are macros for their letterhead and some of the pleadings they use on a daily basis.
I will explain to you how I created my own Legal Toolbar. Follow along with the steps below:
- On the Tools menu, click Customize and select the Toolbars tab.
- Or, if you prefer, your can right-click any active toolbar and choose Customize | Toolbars.
- Click on New.
- In the Toolbar Name box, type Legal (or any other name that you like).
- Use the drop down arrow under Make toolbar available to: and select Normal.dot.
- Click OK.
- From the Customize dialog box, select the Commands tab.
- Notice that it contains two sections - Categories and Commands.
- From the list of Categories, select Insert.
- Scroll down and find Symbol on the Commands list.
- While holding your mouse button down, click and drag the Symbol button to the Legal Toolbar.
- Release the mouse button when the Symbol button appears as an I-beam on the Toolbar palette.
- Go back to the Commands section in the Customize dialog box and locate and select Mark Citation.
- Add this command to the toolbar as you did the previous one.
- From the Categories, select Format.
- From Commands, locate and select Double-Spacing.
- Add it to the toolbar.
- Go back and select and add any additional commands that you just can't live without on a day to day basis.
- Your toolbar should look like the one below while you are creating it.
Now your new toolbar will be available to you in Word's default list of toolbars. You can toggle the toolbar on or off by right-clicking any visible toolbar and checking or unchecking it from the list.
You can also rename or delete your custom toolbar by selecting it from the list of Toolbars on the Customize dialog box and then selecting Rename or Delete.
Carol Bratt has authored several informative Microsoft Office books and writes the monthly Word Bytes Newsletter with more tips and tricks in each issue. Visit Carol's website for more great Microsoft Office tips and tricks! Click here to see her latest books!