Not just Excel, but other applications including Word, PowerPoint, etc tend to have different tools and buttons, which are placed on the Ribbon. The ribbon is basically a user interface element placed at the top of Excel or other apps including Word, PowerPoint, etc.

In 2007, Excel presented Ribbon for the first time. By default, a ribbon consists of multiple buttons and tabs to use. On the other hand, sometimes already placed tabs and buttons needed to be replaced with other tabs, that’s why you often have to customize it. You may want to make a personal ribbon with all the customized tabs on it.

Here in this post, you will get to know how to customize the ribbon in Excel with simple and easy methods.

Excel Ribbon Do’s and Don’ts in Customization:

Before getting started with how you can customize ribbon, let’s see what changes Excel allows you to make and what changes are not acceptable.

• Changes You Can Make

Below are some points you can follow to understand what customization options you can use on the Ribbon:

1. You can Export or Import the personalized ribbon.
2. You can show, hide, or rename tabs.
3. You can make a new tab as well with all your commands.
4. You can rearrange groups, tabs, and commands as well.
5. You can add or remove groups on already available tabs.

• Changes You Can’t Make

1. Unlike the above changes, there are some things you cannot replace in the Excel ribbon.
2. Already built-in commands cannot be changed or removed such as names, icons, and order.
3. Resizing the ribbon or changing the text size or default icons is not allowed. Moreover, you are allowed to hide the ribbon or remove it completely to show the tab names only.
4. The ribbon color is not allowed to change but you can change the color theme of the entire Office.

How to Customize Ribbon in Excel?

To make customizations in the Excel ribbon, you need to open the Customize menu from the Ribbon section. It usually appears on the Excel Options menu. Let’s see the procedure step by step:

• Open the File menu.
• Choose Options and then click on Customize Ribbon.
• Now, right-click on the Ribbon and choose to Customize the Ribbon option given in the context menu.

• Excel Options dialog box will pop up that lets you make whatever changes you need to make. Enjoy your customized ribbon!

Below are some simple steps to follow for a few customizations you may need to make:

How to Add New Tab to the Ribbon?

For this procedure you may follow the steps given below:

• Open the Customize Ribbon Options and choose –in the list of tabs to the right – where you want to add a new tab and click New Tab.

• Within that tab, you will see a new tab and a new group.
• Choose the new tab and click on Rename option.

• Add a new name and click OK.

• Apart from that you can rename the group as well. For this, click on the New Group menu and click on Rename option.

• Enter the name you need for the group and click OK.
• Extra groups can be added to the new tab as well. For this, click on the New Group tab.

That’s it!

How to Reorder Tabs in Excel Ribbon?

For the complete procedure, let’s follow the given steps:

• Open the Customize Ribbon Options to move tabs.
• Choose the tab you need to move and click on the Move Up or Move Down button. Move Up button is used to move the tab to the left on the Ribbon. Move Down button is used to move the tab to the right on the Ribbon.

• Click OK and the Ribbon will be updated as per your order.

How to Add a Custom Group to the Ribbon Tab?

You can add a new group to a default or custom tab. For this, you can follow the steps given below:

• Choose the tab in which you need to add a new group from the right side of the Customize the Ribbon menu.
• Open the New Group tab. It will add a custom group as in New Group placed at the end of the group list. You may find it at the right bottom end of the tab.
• As per this example, you can add a custom group at the end of the Home tab. For this, click on the New Group option.

• Choose a group you need to rename and then click on Rename option. Enter the new name you want and click OK.
• Open the Symbol box and choose the icon to show the custom group. You can see this icon on the ribbon.
• Click OK to save the changes.

Notice: By removing text from the commands given in the custom group, you can save some space on the ribbon. In this way, only icons will appear on the ribbon except for text.

To Sum Up:

This is how you can customize the ribbon in Excel. As usual, Excel has more than enough options to tackle different queries for the users. Enjoy customizations according to your needs!