The Ribbon made its first appearance with Office 2007. Traditional menus and toolbars were replaced with the Ribbon, which is a collection of icons at the top of the screen. Each icon performs a specific Excel function. The words above the icons are called tabs and consist of the Home, Insert, Design, Page Layout, References, Mailings, Review, and View tabs. These tabs can be customized to a user’s preference, adding/deleting any tab is possible when customizing the Ribbon.
The Ribbon can be visible or hidden, which can be controlled by an icon in the upper right corner of the screen (the icon that is slightly whitened) next to the Minimize icon, called Ribbon Display Options (FIGURE 1).
FIGURE 1
The Ribbon visibility options are (FIGURE 1):
- Auto Hide Ribbon: Hides the Ribbon. If you click at the top of the screen, the Ribbon will appear.
- Show Tab: Only shows the tabs. When you select a tab, it will show the icons.
- Show Tabs and Commands: Shows the entire Ribbon, including tabs and icons.
The Ribbon Tabs
Click on the Home tab. This tab contains commands for common actions such as formatting cells, copying, pasting, inserting, and deleting columns and rows. The Home tab toolbar that appears is shown below. This toolbar is actually the default toolbar that is shown when opening an Excel Worksheet.
The Home tab Toolbar (FIGURE 2)
FIGURE 2
Click the Insert tab. This tab contains commands that enable you to insert objects such as tables, charts, pivot tables, text boxes, pictures, and shapes into your spreadsheets.
The Insert tab Toolbar (FIGURE 3)
The Insert tab Toolbar (FIGURE 3)
FIGURE 3
Click the Page Layout tab. This tab holds all the commands that enable you to determine how your spreadsheet looks, both onscreen and when printed. These commands control options such as theme colors, page margins, and print area.
The Page Layout tab Toolbar (FIGURE 4)
The Page Layout tab Toolbar (FIGURE 4)
FIGURE 4
Click the Formulas tab. This tab holds all the commands that help define, control, and audit Excel formulas.
The Formula tab Toolbar (FIGURE 5)
The Formula tab Toolbar (FIGURE 5)
FIGURE 5
Click the Data tab. This tab features commands that enable you to connect to external data, as well as manage the data in your spreadsheet.
The Data tab Toolbar (FIGURE 6)
The Data tab Toolbar (FIGURE 6)
FIGURE 6
Click the Review tab. With commands such as Spell Check, Protect Sheet, Protect Workbook, and Track Changes, the theme of the Review tab is protecting data integrity in your spreadsheet.
The Review tab Toolbar (FIGURE 7)
The Review tab Toolbar (FIGURE 7)
FIGURE 7
Click the View tab. The commands on this tab are designed to help you control how you visually interact with your spreadsheet.
The View tab Toolbar (FIGURE 8)
The View tab Toolbar (FIGURE 8)
FIGURE 8
Section completed. Go to Module 2 Section 2.5 Contextual Tabs/Customizing the Ribbon