Part IV: Using Advanced Excel Features
546
Customizing the Ribbon
The Ribbon is Excel’s primary user interface. It consists of tabs along the top. When you click a
tab, it displays a set of commands, and the commands are arranged in groups.New Feature
The Ribbon was introduced in Excel 2007, but it could not be customized. Excel 2010, however, makes it fairly
easy to modify the Ribbon in a number of ways. n
Why customize the Ribbon?
Most users will have no need to customize the Ribbon. If you find that you tend to use the
same command over and over, though — and you are constantly clicking tabs to access these
commands — then you might benefit for customizing the Ribbon in such a way that the com-
mands you need are on the same tab.What can be customized
You can customize the Ribbon in these ways:l Tabsl (^) Add a new custom tab.
l Delete custom tabs.
In the Excel Options dialog box, the Quick Access Toolbar tab and the Customize Ribbon tab both
have an Import/Export button. You can use this button to save and open files that contain user interface
customizations. For example, you might create a new Ribbon tab and want to share it with your office
mates.
Click the Import/Export button, and you get two options:
l (^) Import Customization File: You are prompted to locate the file. Before you load a file,
you are asked whether you want to replace all existing Ribbon and Quick Access toolbar
customizations.
l (^) Export All Customization: You are prompted to provide a filename and location for the file.
The information is stored in a file that has a *.exportedUI extension. Unfortunately, importing and
exporting is not implemented very well. Excel does not allow you to save or load only the Quick Access
toolbar customization or only the Ribbon customizations. Both types of customizations are exported
and imported. Therefore, you cannot share your Quick Access toolbar customization without also shar-
ing your Ribbon customizations.
Sharing User Interface Customizations