Working with Your Excel Environment

The Ribbon and the Quick Access Toolbar are where you will find the commands you need to do common tasks in Excel. If you are familiar with Excel 2007, you will find that the main difference in the Excel 2010 Ribbon is that commands such as Open and Print are now housed in Backstage view.

The Ribbon

The Ribbon contains multiple tabs, each with several groups of commands. You can add your own tabs that contain your favorite commands.

Certain programs, such as Adobe Acrobat Reader, may install additional tabs to the ribbon. These tabs are called Add-ins.

To Customize the Ribbon:

You can customize the ribbon by creating your own tabs that house your desired commands. Commands are always housed within a group, and you can create as many groups as you need to keep your tabs organized. In addition, you can even add commands to any of the default tabs, as long as you create a custom group within the tab.

• Right-click the Ribbon and select Customize the Ribbon. A dialog box will appear.

1. Click New Tab. A new tab will be created with a new group inside it.
2. Make sure the new group is selected.
3. Select a command from the list on the left, then click Add. You can also drag commands directly into a group.
4. When you are done adding commands, click OK. 

 

If you do not see the command you want, click on the Choose commands drop-down box and select All Commands.

To Minimize and Maximize the Ribbon:

The Ribbon is designed to be responsive to your current task and easy to use, but if you find it is taking up too much of your screen space, you can minimize it.

1. Click the arrow in the upper-right corner of the Ribbon to minimize it.

2. To maximize the Ribbon, click the arrow again.

When the Ribbon is minimized, you can make it reappear by clicking on a tab. However, the Ribbon will disappear again when you are not using it.