Excel 2007 Add-Ins And The Ribbon Menu
Excel 2007’s new Ribbon menu takes a while to get used to. I’ve heard a lot of people say that their productivity dropped way down after switching to Office 2007, but eventually it rose up again to match the pre-2007 levels. Some people even say they’re more productive now.
I’m finally getting used to it myself, but there is still one thing that bugs me. The Ribbon thinks it knows what you want to do better than you do. When you select different items (ranges, charts, shapes, etc.) the Ribbon will automatically switch tabs in anticipation of what you want to do next. Even worse, Microsoft didn’t provide a way to pin tabs to force any given tab to stay selected.
The problem is even worse with Excel add-ins. Add-ins extend the functionality of Excel through both expanded features and convenience. If any add-ins exist when Excel 2007 loads, it creates a special Add-Ins tab. If you’re using the features of an add-in, Excel often gets all smart on you and switches the active tab. It can be a real pain, but luckily there’s a workaround.
QAT To The Rescue
The QAT is the Quick Access Toolbar. It’s a special toolbar that users can add custom buttons to so their favorite features are readily available. And it works for add-ins as well.
To include an Add-in on the QAT, first you need to select the Add-Ins tab. At the bottom of the Add-Ins tab is a label titled “Custom Toolbars”. Right-click on the label and a menu will popup allowing you to add it to the QAT, as shown in the picture below.
Selecting “Add Group to Quick Access Toolbar” will make the whole add-in toolbar a dropdown from the QAT, as shown below.
On other thing to note is the position of the QAT. In the first picture above, you can see that the QAT is above the Ribbon. In the second picture, it’s below the Ribbon. It’s a matter of personal preference, but if you like having favorite features even closer to the worksheet, you can change the position of the QAT. As shown in the third picture, below, just right-click on the QAT and select the option to show it below the Ribbon.
With the QAT below the Ribbon, you lose a little screen real estate, but you make up for it with added convenience and increased productivity.
