WD: Customizing and Sharing Toolbars In Microsoft Word

ID: Q169870

The information in this article applies to:

SUMMARY

This article describes how to create a custom toolbar, how to distribute it to other users, and how to allow other users to share it over a network.

The built-in toolbars provided by Microsoft Word cannot be changed or replaced because they are stored as Microsoft Word program code. However, you can create custom toolbar(s), save them in templates, and then:

Custom toolbars are stored in templates in Microsoft Word 6.x, 7.x.

MORE INFORMATION

Creating a Custom Toolbar in Normal.dot

To create custom toolbars for personal use only, follow these steps:

1. On the View menu, click Toolbars.

2. In the Customize dialog box, click New and type a toolbar name in the 

   Toolbar Name box.
3. In the "Make toolbar available to" box, select Normal.dot, and then 
   click OK.  Note that an empty floating toolbar appears.
4. In the Customize dialog box, click the Commands tab.

5. Drag the desired command(s) to the empty toolbar.

6. Dock your toolbar by dragging it near the other toolbars.

7. Click Close.

Creating a Custom Toolbar in a New Template

To create a toolbar for use on multiple computers, follow these steps to create custom toolbars within a customized template:

1. On the File menu, click New.

2. Select the Normal template, click New Template, and click OK.

3. On the File menu, click Save As.

4. In the Save As dialog box, enter a file name and click Save.

5. On the View menu, click Toolbars.

6. Click New and type a toolbar name in the Toolbar Name box.

7. In the "Make toolbar available to" box, type or select the name for your 

   newly created template, and then click OK.. Note that an empty floating
   toolbar appears.
8. In the Customize dialog box, click the Commands tab.

9. Drag the desired command(s) to the empty toolbar.

10. Dock your toolbar by dragging it near the other toolbars.

11. Click Close.

Once you have created a template containing custom toolbars, use either of the following methods to share it.

Method 1: Copy the Toolbar from the Network Template to the Normal.dot File

1. On the File menu, click Open.

2. Locate the folder where the template is stored and open the 

   template.
3. On the File menu, click Template.

4. Click Organizer, and then click the Toolbars tab. The Organizer 

   contains two windows. One side contains Normal.dot and the other
   contains the network template you opened in step 2.
5. On the network template side, click to select the customized toolbar(s) 
   you want available in Normal.dot, and then click the Copy button.
6. Click Close.

Method 2: Loading the Network Template Globally

1. Quit Microsoft Word.

2. Using Windows Explorer, copy the network template to your startup 

   folder for Microsoft Word. The default startup folder Microsoft 
   Office\Winword\Startup.
When you start Word, the new toolbar(s) should be available.

REFERENCES

For additional information about custom toolbars, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 

   ARTICLE-ID: Q141995
   TITLE     : How to Create Custom Toolbars and Toolbar Buttons
For additional information about starting Word with a template other than Normal, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 

   ARTICLE-ID: Q97687
   TITLE     : Starting Word for Windows with a Template Other Than
               "Normal"
For additional information about using the organizer, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 

   ARTICLE-ID: Q119126
   TITLE     : Organizer Cannot Copy Default Toolbars
Additional query words: 
Keywords          : kbui kbusage word6 word7 word95 
Version           : WINDOWS:6.0,6.0a,6.0c,7.0,7.0a
Platform          : WINDOWS
Issue type        : kbhowto

Last Reviewed: February 1, 1999