Making The Whole Toolbar Appear

Q. When I click on a toolbar icon, only the most recently used menu commands drop down, leaving the others hidden—unless I click again on the double arrows at the bottom of the drop-down menu. Some users consider this a convenience, but I hate it. It means I’ve got to provide an extra click—a wasted motion. Is there a way to get the full menu to appear when I click once on a toolbar icon?

A. True, many users find it a convenience to hide the less-used commands, because it provides a less- cluttered screen. But if you want to eliminate that option, it’s easy to do. Just click on Tools, Customize, Options, and then uncheck the box titled Menus show recently used commands first (see exhibit 4, below). If you have Microsoft Office Suite and you eliminate the most recently used option in one application, it will remove it in the other Office applications, too.

While we’re on the subject of toolbars, if you want to clean up your toolbar and remove any unused command icons, you can do it without a multistep customization process. Just hold down the Alt key as you click on a tool icon and drag it off the toolbar. However, if you want to put it back, you’ve got to go through the full process: Click on Tools, Customize, Commands and then drag the icon back into the toolbar .

Exhibit 4

Get all the toolbar menu items to appear with just one click instead of hiding the less frequently used commands.