Replace The Missing Close Icon in Excel

Q. My version of Word contains a Close icon (for closing an open file). But in Excel, there’s just the word Close —no icon. What’s up? Do I have an economy version of Excel—one with limited icons?

A. No, all copies of Excel are that way. It must be an oversight by Microsoft. However, it’s easy enough to correct just by copying a Close icon from another application and pasting it into Excel. Icon copying is possible between all Microsoft applications.

In fact, as I was thinking about your question, it occurred to me that the solution opens some interesting possibilities for a handy and easy way to customize icon displays in any application.

Here’s how to add the icon in Excel, recognizing that this method can be adapted to other applications, too. First open Excel and click on Tools, Customize , and when the dialog box opens, click on the Commands tab and then on File . Scroll down to the word Close (notice there is no icon) and, using your mouse, drag the word to your toolbar.

Now open Word, and again click on Tools, Customize , and when the dialog box opens, click on the Commands tab and then on File. Scroll down to the Close icon and drag it to the toolbar.

Once it’s in the toolbar, right click on the icon, and in the screen that appears choose Copy Button Image.

Then switch back to Excel, put your cursor over the word Close and right click, again evoking the above screen. This time select Paste Button Image while your cursor hovers over the word Close and—presto!—the icon appears. Finally, click on Modify Selection, choose Default Style and click on Close to quit the dialog box.

This technique can be adapted if you want to customize other functions with an icon of your choice.