WD: How to Create Custom Toolbars and Toolbar Buttons

ID: Q141995

The information in this article applies to:

SUMMARY

This article describes how to customize and create toolbars and toolbar buttons. In Word, you can add, delete, move, or group toolbar buttons to suit your needs. Word has built-in buttons for menu items, such those on the File, Edit, View, Insert, Format, Tools, Table, Window, and Help menus. Word also has built-in buttons for Drawing, Borders, and Mail Merge.

You may want to create custom buttons for other commands that do not have built-in buttons; in addition, you can create custom buttons for macros, fonts, AutoText entries, and styles.

MORE INFORMATION

How to Add a Button

1. On the View menu, click Toolbars.

2. In the Toolbars dialog box, click Customize.

3. In the Categories list, select the category from which you want to add a 

   button.
4. Word displays the available built-in buttons for the selected category 
   to the right of the list box.

   For the commands, macros, fonts, AutoText entries, and styles
   categories, instead of buttons, Word lists the available commands or
   items in the box to the right of the Categories list in the Commands,
   Macros, Fonts, AutoText, or Styles box, respectively. Note that the name
   of this box changes depending on which item is selected in the
   Categories list.
5. Click the button you want and drag it to the the location on the 
   toolbar you want.

   Note that if you are selecting an item from a Commands, Macros, Fonts,
   AutoText, or Styles category, when you select the item, a "ghost" button
   appears when you hold down the mouse button. Drag this button to where
   you want the button to go. The Custom Button dialog box is displayed;
   you can use this dialog box to choose the custom face of the button.
To see a short description of any built-in button's function, click the button. Word displays the description in the Description box at the bottom of the dialog box.

How to Change the Image of an Existing Button

1. Display the toolbar on which the button appears. Click Customize on 

   the Tools menu, and select the Toolbars tab.
2. On the toolbar, use the right mouse button (Windows) or hold down CTRL 
   (Macintosh) and click the button you want to change.
3. On the shortcut menu that appears, click Choose Button Image.

If you want to alter the current button face, click Edit in the Custom Button dialog box.

How to Copy or Move a Toolbar Button

1. On the Tools menu, click Customize.

2. Select the Toolbars tab.

3. Use the appropriate procedure from the following table. 

      To do this              Use this procedure
      ---------------------------------------------------------------------

      Move a button          Drag the button to the new location on the
                             same toolbar or to another displayed toolbar.

      Copy a button          While holding down CTRL, drag the button to
      (Windows)              the new location on the same toolbar or to
                             another displayed toolbar.

      Copy a button          While holding down the OPTION key, drag the
      (Macintosh)            button to the new location on the same toolbar
                             or to another displayed toolbar.
4. Click Close.

How to Create a New Toolbar

1. On the View menu, click Toolbars.

2. Select the New button.

3. In the Toolbar Name box, type a name for the new toolbar.

4. In the "Make Toolbar Available To" box, click the template where you 

   want to store the toolbar.
5. Click the OK button.

6. The Customize dialog box appears.

7. In the Categories box, click the category that contains the command or 

   other item you want to add to the new toolbar.
8. Under Buttons, drag the button or other item to the new toolbar.

How to Delete a Custom Toolbar

1. On the View menu, click Toolbars.

2. In the Toolbars box, click to select the name of the custom toolbar you 

   want to delete.
3. Click Delete. 

   NOTE: You cannot delete a built-in toolbar. When you select a built-in
   toolbar in the Toolbars box, the Delete button changes to Reset.
   Using the Reset button returns the built-in toolbars to their
   original default appearance.

Moving a Toolbar

To move a toolbar from its "docked" position at the top of the Word window, click a space between buttons and drag the toolbar to a new location. To move a "floating" toolbar, click an empty space between buttons or click the title bar, and then drag it to the new location.

Use the Organizer to Manage Toolbars

When you create a custom toolbar or edit existing toolbars, the changes are stored in either the Normal template or the template attached to the active document.

To select where to store the changes, select the desired template in the Save Changes list in the Customize dialog box (on the Tools menu, click Customize). Note that this box displays templates other than the Normal template only if another template is attached to the active document. To do this, click Templates on the File menu. In the Templates dialog box, you can attach additional templates.

Clicking the Organizer button lets you manage the items stored in templates, such as styles, AutoText entries, toolbars, and macros. You can use the Organizer to do the following:

For information about how to do this in Word 97 for Windows or Word 98 Macintosh Edition, please see the following article here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 

   ARTICLE-ID: Q155800
   TITLE     : WD97: How to Customize, Create, and Restore Word
               Menus/Toolbars

REFERENCES

"Microsoft Word for Windows User's Guide," version 2.0, pages 746-751

Additional query words: 

Keywords          : kbui wordnt winword ntword macword word6 word7 word95 kbfaq
Version           : MACINTOSH:6.0,6.0.1,6.0.1a; WINDOWS:6.0,6.0a,6.0c,7.0,7.0a; winnt:6.0
Platform          : MACINTOSH WINDOWS winnt
Issue type        : kbhowto

Last Reviewed: February 11, 1999