Microsoft KB Archive/130847

= OFF: Office Shortcut Bar Description and Features =

Article ID: 130847

Article Last Modified on 8/16/2005

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Office 95 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Office 97 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q130847



SUMMARY
When you install Microsoft Office, the Microsoft Office Shortcut Bar may be installed, depending on which version of Office you install and which setup options you select. The Office Shortcut Bar provides convenient toolbar shortcuts you can use to work with your documents and Office programs.

The following information describes the Office Shortcut Bar in more detail, describes features, and discusses how the Office Shortcut Bar differs from the Microsoft Windows taskbar.



Office Shortcut Bar: Description and Features
The Office Shortcut Bar comes with the Office toolbar and several other toolbars you can use to quickly complete many common tasks. For example, you can use the Shortcut Bar to create and open documents, set up appointments, connect to the Microsoft Network, send e-mail, and much more.

The following is a list of additional features of the Office Shortcut Bar:
 * You can customize the Office Shortcut Bar toolbars so they display the toolbars and buttons that you need and hide the ones you don't.


 * You can add new buttons or toolbars for programs and documents you use frequently.


 * You can create new toolbars from scratch or from one of your own folders.


 * You can customize the appearance of the Office Shortcut Bar. For example, you can color-code your toolbars, turn ToolTips on or off, use large or small toolbar buttons, and choose whether to animate the toolbars or not.


 * The Office Shortcut Bar is always available, even when you maximize a document or program and cover your Windows desktop. You can drag your Shortcut Bar to dock it wherever you want it; either on the edge of your screen or floating as a window on your desktop. When you dock the Shortcut Bar along an edge of your screen, Windows resizes your desktop so the Shortcut Bar is outside the desktop and doesn't cover anything else on your desktop. You can also keep the Shortcut Bar on top of all the other windows on your desktop, hide it between uses, minimize it to the Windows taskbar, or nest it in the title bar of your maximized programs.


 * On a toolbar, you can move the buttons around so they are in the order you want. You can add spaces between groups of buttons to make it easy to locate the button you need.


 * You can change global settings that affect all your Office programs. For example, you can set a User or Workgroup Template location that all your Office programs use when you start a new document.


 * The Shortcut Bar opens only one toolbar at a time, so your desktop stays uncluttered. Closed toolbars appear as a single button on the Office Shortcut Bar. You can click a toolbar to open it when you need it. The ToolTip for each toolbar and button make it easy to find the one you want.


 * If you don't use a toolbar very frequently, you can keep it hidden until you need it, and then right-click a blank area on a toolbar to redisplay it.

Office Shortcut Bar Versus the Windows Taskbar
If an Office program is already running and you click its button on the Office Shortcut Bar, Office switches to the program. For some programs, such as Paint, Calculator, or Notepad, Office starts a second instance of the program.

It is often easier to use the Windows taskbar to switch between running programs. The taskbar shows you what is currently running so you can quickly switch from one task to another. For details, see your Windows documentation.

The Office Shortcut Bar complements the Windows taskbar and the Start button. You can use the Office Shortcut Bar to create shortcuts to the work you do most often. The Office Shortcut Bar is also handy when your Windows desktop is covered by a maximized program. Use the Desktop button on the Office Shortcut Bar to access your desktop so you don't have to stop work and minimize your program.

Use the Windows Start button to switch between the documents and programs that are currently open on your computer and to start programs for which you do not have a Shortcut Bar button.

