Quick Access Toolbar In Excel (QAT)

What Is The Quick Access Toolbar (QAT) In Excel?

The Quick Access Toolbar (QAT) in Excel is found on the Excel window’s Title Bar, with quick and easy access to tools and commands.

Excel provides this feature to save recently or frequently used features or tools such as Save, Undo, Redo, Sort, etc.

For example, the image depicts the values, and we will arrange the values in descending order using the Quick Access Excel Toolbar as follows:

First, click the “Customize Quick Access Toolbar” drop-down button, and select the “Sort Descending” option. [If not already selected]

The “Sort Largest to Smallest” button appears on the top of the Excel Ribbon, as shown below.

Finally, select cells A2:A6, and click the “Sort Largest to Smallest” button. We will get the following output.

How To Use Quick Access Toolbar In Excel?

We can use Quick Access Toolbar by clicking the “Customize Quick Access Toolbar” drop-down button on the Title Bar, as shown below.

Some options are already selected by default in Excel. And we can select the rest of the options available as per our requirements.

Examples

Some of the following modifications we can do to the Quick Access Toolbar are,

1. Customizing QAT.
2. Changing the Position of QAT.
3. Customizing the toolbar by Options Command.
4. Changing the Order of the Commands.
5. Export a Customized Quick Access Toolbar.

Let us consider specific examples to perform the above-mentioned changes.

Example #1 – Customizing QAT

The customizing QAT is a set of commands that are independent of the tab that is currently displayed. It is located in one of two places: the left corner above (default location) or the left corner below the ribbon.

The steps for Customizing Quick Access Toolbar in Excel are

• Step 1: On the ribbon, click the “Customize Quick Access Toolbar” drop-down button  → select the “More Commands…” option to add the commands.

• Step 2: The “Excel Options” window opens.
  • On the left, click the “Quick Access Toolbar” option.
  • Then, on the right, select the required commands from the “Choose commands from:” category, and click the “Add” option. We will see the selected options automatically in the “Customize Quick Access Toolbar:” category.
  • Finally, click “OK” to view the added features on the excel ribbon for easy access.

Example #2 – Changing the Position of QAT

We can change the position of the toolbar in two positions: the top or bottom (top of the workspace area) of the ribbon. By default, the QAT is on top of the Excel ribbon.

The procedure to change the Position of QAT on the ribbon is,

On the ribbon, click the “Customize Quick Access Toolbar” drop-down button  à select the “Show below the Ribbon” option to move the Toolbar, as shown below.

Immediately, the Toolbar is moved from above to below the Ribbon, just above the workspace area, as shown in the below image.

Example #3 – Customizing the Toolbar by Options Command

In the Customize Quick Access Toolbar by Options command, we can add, remove, and change the order of the commands on the Quick Access Toolbar using the Options command. 

The steps to modify the QAT are,

• Step 1: Select the “File” tab → go to the “More…” option → click the “Options” option from the drop-right menu of the list, as shown below.

• Step 2: The “Excel Options” window pops up.

Select the “Quick Access Toolbar” option from the left list, and click “OK”.

Example #4 – Changing the Order of the Commands

The steps to Modify the Sequence of Commands and to reset to Default Settings are as follows:

• Step 1: On the ribbon, click the “Customize Quick Access Toolbar” drop-down button → select the “More Commands…” option to add the commands.

• Step 2: The “Excel Options” window opens.
  • On the left, click the “Quick Access Toolbar” option.
  • Then, on the right,
    • In the “Customize Quick Access Toolbar:” category, select the “For all documents (default)” option from the drop-down.
    • In the “Customizations:” category at the bottom, select the “Reset” option from the drop-down.
  • Finally, click “OK” to get the default settings.

Example #5 – Export a Customized Quick Access Toolbar

When we change our workstation, we can use our customized Quick Access Toolbar options using the Import/Export option. We can Import/Export the customizations from/to a file and use it.

The steps to Export a Customized Quick Access Toolbar are,

• Step 1: On the ribbon, click the “Customize Quick Access Toolbar” drop-down button  → select the “More Commands…” option to add the commands.

• Step 2: The “Excel Options” window opens.
  • On the left, click the “Quick Access Toolbar” option.
  • Then, on the right, in the “Customizations:” category at the bottom, select the “Import/Export” option from the drop-down à select the “Export all customizations” option.
  • Then the modifications done and saved by the user, such as “add”, “remove”, “reset”, and “change the location of the toolbar”, i.e., the current customized setting of the QAT of the user is copied in a file in the give location. [Note: This file can be used whenever required on any computer by using the import option on a different computer]
  • Finally, click “OK” to complete the exporting process.

Important Things To Note

• The size of the toolbar buttons cannot be modified to correspond to the commands.
• We can change the resolution of the screen to increase/decrease the QAT tool size.
• We can add as many commands to the QAT, but only some are visible due to the screen size.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Download Template

This article must help understand the features and examples of the Quick Access Toolbar (QAT) in Excel. You can download the template here to use it instantly.

Recommended Articles

This has been a guide to Quick Access Toolbar in Excel (QAT). Here we learn to use QAT, customize, edit, export/import QAT, examples & downloadable template. You can learn more from the following articles –

• Toolbar On Excel
• Add-ins In Excel
• Keyboard Shortcuts In Excel