Page 28 - Excel Timesaving Techniques for Dummies

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2 Customizing the
Excel Menus and

Technique Toolbars

his technique centers on customizing the Excel toolbars and pull-
Save Time By down menus. Taking the time to get the Excel toolbars (especially
Tthe Standard and Formatting toolbars that Excel automatically
Displaying full toolbars
and menus displays whenever you launch the program) and the pull-down menus
the way you want them saves you valuable time when creating and edit-
Customizing toolbars and ing your spreadsheets. (Just think about how many times you access
menus their buttons and menu items in a single work session, and you’ll under-
Creating your own menus stand why.)
Adding macros and links Excel makes it easy to customize the position, behavior, and even content
to toolbars and menus of its many toolbars and pull-down menus. This customization includes
placing the Standard and Formatting toolbars on two separate rows,
always displaying full pull-down menus, and customizing the buttons
and command options found on the built-in bars and menus as well as
those found on the bars and menus you build on your own.

Showing the Toolbars and Menus
in All Their Glory

Excel tries to save valuable screen space by automatically placing the
Standard and Formatting toolbars on the same row at the top of the
screen. This is fine except for when you’re using one a smaller monitor
in a relatively low screen resolution (such as 800 x 600 or 1024 x 768)
where it’s impossible to have all the buttons on either toolbar display
at the same time and where you’re often forced to waste time in clicking
the Toolbar Options button to have access to options that are currently
hidden.