Technically Speaking
A Word 2007 lifesaver - the customizable Quick Access Toolbar
April-May 2009

by Charles M. Levine

In the previous column (“Taking the first steps with Word 2007 for the PC” in the February–March 2009 issue), I covered the basic transformation involved in switching from an earlier version of Word to the latest upgrade, Word 2007 for the PC. (I will review Word 2008, the latest version for the Mac, in a future column.) I would like to round out this introduction to Word 2007 with a few additional tips that should make the transition go much more smoothly.

As I noted in the previous column, two fundamental and striking design changes have been made to the Word 2007 interface. First, the File menu has been replaced by the Microsoft Office Button, located in the upper left-hand corner of the workspace, which is used for such basic tasks as opening, saving, printing, and e-mailing documents, and for setting program-wide preferences called Word Options. Second, all the Word menus found in the previous version of the program have been reorganized and regrouped in browser-like tabs located in an area at the top of the workspace called the Ribbon.

While it takes some time to feel comfortable using this new GUI (graphical user interface), the good news is that Word 2007 works much more efficiently than earlier versions did—and, very important, seems much less prone to crashes when the user is working with large documents or over a long period. (Microsoft does respond to user feedback, albeit at what seems to be a non-digital pace!) The general consensus in the blogosphere supports the assessment that the programs in Office 2007 represent a major improvement over previous versions, and that it is worthwhile tackling the learning curve that accompanies switching to this major new software upgrade.

There also is a third new feature that can make the transition to using Word 2007 much less daunting: the highly versatile Quick Access Toolbar (dubbed QAT for short, spelled without periods but pronounced as an initialism), located at the top left-hand corner of the workspace, just to the right of the Microsoft Office Button. As I tested Word 2007 over several months, I found the QAT to be a lifesaver, because you can customize the toolbar by adding any menu command found in Word 2007. This means that, during a relatively short trial-and-error period, you can create a personal menu of Word commands that you use most often—no matter where the corresponding icon may have been relocated to or hidden in the new design.

Customizing the QAT

There are three basic ways to customize the Quick Access Toolbar:

1. Add a command directly from the Ribbon. Highlight and right-click on any Word command found on the Ribbon, which activates the drop-down menu illustrated below. Select Add to Quick Access Toolbar to add the highlighted command button to the QAT. It is that fast and easy. You can also add an entire menu group found in the tabs, such as Clipboard, Font, Paragraph, Styles, and Editing (on the Home tab). You also can choose to activate the related menu for customizing the QAT (more on this below), or to reposition the toolbar below the Ribbon, or to collapse and minimize the Ribbon. Note: According to Word Help, “the contents of most lists, such as indent and spacing values and individual styles, which also appear on the Ribbon, cannot be added to the Quick Access Toolbar.”
2. Add a command using the Customize Quick Access Toolbar menu. This menu can be reached by either (a) right-clicking on any command (or area) in the Ribbon and then selecting that same-named option; or (b) clicking the down arrow to the right of the Quick Access Toolbar. This menu lists ten of the most common commands in Word, any of which you can select to add to the QAT—or deselect to remove from the toolbar: New, Open, Save, E-mail, Quick Print, Print Preview, Spelling & Grammar, Undo, Redo, and Draw Table.
3. Add a command using the full-blown customization dialog box in the Word Options menu. This dialog box also can be reached two ways: by either (a) selecting More Commands … from the Customize Quick Access Toolbar menu; or (b) clicking Microsoft Office Button R Word Options R Customize. Microsoft deserves a medal for including this functionality in Word 2007, as it allows you to add to the Quick Access Toolbar any of Word’s numerous commands and menu groups. You now can customize and tame Word 2007 in ways not possible in earlier versions of the program.