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You can personalize the Ribbon and toolbars in Office just the way you like them, showing frequently used commands and hiding the ones you rarely use. You can change default tabs, or create custom tabs and custom groups to contain your frequently used commands.

Note: You cannot rename the default commands, change the icons associated with these default commands, or change the order of these commands.

  1. To customize the Ribbon, open or create an Excel or PowerPoint document.

  2. Go to the app Preferences and select Ribbon and Toolbar.

    Office2016 for Mac Ribbon Toolbar Preferences
  3. On the Ribbon tab window, select the commands you want to add or remove from your Ribbon and select the add or remove arrows.

    Office2016 for Mac Customize Ribbon

    Note: To remove the default tabs or commands like the Home or Insert tab from the Ribbon, uncheck the relevant checkbox in the Customize the Ribbon box.

Here's what you can customize on the Ribbon:

  • Rename the tabs: To rename, select a tab, like Home, Insert, Design in the Customize the Ribbon box, select > Rename.

  • Add new tab or new group: To add new tab or new group, select Office2016 for Mac Customize Ribbon Add Button below the Customize the Ribbon box, and select New tab or New group.

  • Remove tabs: You can remove custom tabs only from the Ribbon. To remove, select your tab in the Customize the Ribbon box and select .

Customize the Quick Access Toolbar

If you just want a few commands on your fingertips, you want to use the Quick Access Toolbar. Those are the icons that are above the Ribbon and they are always on no matter what tab you are on in the Ribbon.

Office2016 for Mac QAT
  1. To customize the Quick Access Toolbar, open or create an Excel or PowerPoint document.

  2. Go to the app Preferences and select Quick Access Toolbar.

    Office2016 for Mac Customize QAT
  3. On the Quick Access Toolbar tab window, select the commands and select the arrows to add or remove from the Customize Quick Access Toolbar box.

    Note: If you don't see the commands to add to the Quick Access Toolbar, it is because we don't support it at this time.

    Once you select a command, it will appear at the end of the Quick Access toolbar.

    Here are the default commands on the Quick Access Toolbar:

    Office2016 for Mac Customize Quick Access Toolbar Menu

    If you want just want to add one of these commands, just select the command name to add or remove it from the toolbar. Items that appear in the Quick Access Toolbar will have a checkmark next to them.

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