Excel Ribbon

The Excel Ribbon was introduced in Excel 2007 and has evolved in Excel 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Microsoft 365. It sits at the top of your Excel window and is the control centre that holds most of the commands. Think of it as a control panel that organizes all the tools you need in one convenient place. This article will walk you through everything you need to know about the Excel Ribbon, from understanding its basic structure to customizing it for your specific needs. You will learn Excel’s tabs, tools, customization options, and time-saving shortcuts to help you navigate, format, and manage data efficiently.

Table of Contents:

• What is the Excel Ribbon?
• Key Elements of the Ribbon
• Overview of Different Tabs in the Ribbon
• How to Hide the Ribbon in Excel?
• How to Unhide the Ribbon in Excel?
• How to Customize the Ribbon in Excel?
• Keyboard Shortcuts to Use the Ribbon Efficiently
• Conclusion

What is the Excel Ribbon?

The Excel Ribbon is the command bar at the top of the Excel window that gives you quick access to features, tools, and settings. You can think of it as the control centre that gives you faster access to everything. It is intuitive and visual, with labeled icons, and provides easy navigation.

Key Elements of the Ribbon

The Ribbon organizes Excel’s functionality into four major components:

• Tabs: These are the main categories, like Home, Insert, Data, each with related tools.
• Groups: Each tab is divided into groups holding related commands (e.g., Font group in Home tab).
• Commands: Buttons or icons that perform actions (e.g., Bold, Sort, Filter).
• Contextual Tabs: This shows up only when you select an element like a chart or table (e.g., Chart Tools)

Overview of Different Tabs in the Ribbon

The Excel Ribbon is divided into several tabs, each grouping commands by related tasks. Knowing what each tab offers helps you find tools fast and work smarter. 

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File Tab

The File Tab, located at the far left of the Ribbon, is distinct from the other tabs as it opens the Backstage view. This tab is used for all file-level operations. These include:

• New: Start a new workbook
• Open: Load an existing file
• Save / Save As: Save changes or rename/save to another format (e.g., PDF)
• Print: Set up and preview before printing
• Share / Export: Send or convert files
• Options: Access Excel settings and preferences

Home Tab

The Home Tab collects the most frequently used commands necessary for formatting, editing, styling, and managing content within the Excel workbook. The Home Tab is organized into several key groups. These are:

• Clipboard: Cut (Ctrl+X), Copy (Ctrl+C), Paste (Ctrl+V), Format Painter
• Font: Used to change font size, style, colour, and borders
• Alignment: Used to align text, wrap, and merge cells
• Number: Apply number formats like Currency, Date, or Percentage
• Styles: Use Conditional Formatting, Table Styles, Cell Styles
• Cells: Insert/delete rows, columns, or sheets
• Editing: This provides quick access to essential data manipulation functions like AutoSum, Fill, Clear, Sort & Filter, and Find & Select.

Insert Tab

The Insert Tab has functions to add various objects to your Excel spreadsheet to enhance its functionality and visual appeal. This tab has groups:

• Tables & PivotTables: Allow you to insert formatted tables and PivotTables for data analysis.
• Charts: Provides a variety of options for representing data visually, including column, line, pie, and other chart types
• Illustrations: Enables the insertion of pictures, shapes, icons, 3D models, SmartArt graphics, and screenshots
• Sparklines: For displaying trends within a single cell
• Text: Add Text Boxes, Headers/Footers, WordArt
• Symbols: Enables the insertion of equations and various symbols

Share Tab

Share Tab has a single group that goes by the same name, Share. Here, you can directly share the sheet or copy the share link to the whole workbook or a particular sheet.

Page Layout Tab

The Page Layout Tab allows you to control the appearance of your worksheet and how your worksheet prints. The various groups in the Page Layout tab are:

• Themes: Apply consistent colours and fonts
• Margins: Adjusts page boundaries
• Orientation: Switches between portrait and landscape
• Size: Select paper dimensions
• Print Area: Defines what portion to print
• Scaling: Fits content to specific page counts

Formulas Tab

The Formulas Tab is dedicated to all aspects of working with formulas and functions in Excel. It has the following groups 

• Function Library: You can access functions by category (e.g., Text, Logical, Lookup)
• Defined Names: You can use names instead of cell references
• Formula Auditing: Using commands in this group, you can trace precedents/dependents, and check for errors
• Calculation: This group provides options for controlling how and when Excel calculates formulas in your workbook.

Data Tab

The Data Tab, the sixth main tab, focuses on managing and analyzing datasets within Excel. 

• The Get & Transform Data group provides powerful tools for importing data from various external sources, such as text files, databases, and the web, as well as for cleaning and shaping that data.
• Sort & Filter allows you to organize or filter data.
• The Queries & Connections group allows you to manage existing data connections, refresh data, and edit links to external sources.
• The Data Tools group provides a collection of utilities for working with data, including text to columns, removing duplicate values, data validation, consolidation, and what-if analysis.

Review Tab

This tab focuses on the collaborative and quality assurance aspects of working with Excel. You can finalize your work using the commands in this tab.

• Proofing checks spelling and grammar
• Comments add notes to the cells
• Protect secures worksheets and workbooks
• Track Changes monitors the edits made by collaborators

View Tab

The View Tab, the eighth main tab, provides options for customizing how you view and interact with your Excel worksheets. This tab has groups like

• Workbook Views: Normal view, Page Layout view, Page Break Preview
• Show/Hide -This group toggles gridlines, headings, and the formula bar
• Zoom is used to adjust magnification
• Window is used to freeze panes, split views, and arrange windows
• Macros record and run automated tasks

Help Tab

The Help tab provides direct access to Microsoft’s support resources. From here, users can access the Help Task Pane, contact Microsoft support, provide feedback, suggest features, and often find quick links to training videos. You can also learn the keyboard shortcuts for quick access to some commands.

Draw Tab

The Draw Tab is a more recent addition to the Excel Ribbon, offering a dedicated set of tools for drawing and annotating directly on your worksheets, using a digital pen, mouse, or finger. This tab might not be visible by default, and can be enabled through the customization options.  

How to Hide the Ribbon in Excel

Collapsing the Ribbon gives you more space to focus on your worksheet by hiding the tool options until needed. There are several easy ways to collapse the Excel Ribbon.

When you collapse the ribbon, the tab names remain visible, and the ribbon appears when the tab is clicked. This gives you more space to work on the Excel worksheet while also giving you quick access to the ribbon whenever needed.

How to Unhide the Ribbon in Excel

Getting the Ribbon back is just as simple. Here are all the methods to bring back the ribbon to its full size.

By mastering these simple techniques, you can easily manage the Excel Ribbon to create a workspace that suits your needs and maximizes your productivity.

How to Customize the Ribbon in Excel

Customizing the Ribbon in Excel helps you access your most-used commands faster by adding, removing, or reordering tabs and commands based on your workflow. Here’s your step-by-step guide to creating a personalized Excel experience.

Step 1: Access the Customization Option

To be able to make your personalized tab on your ribbon, you first have to access the customization option. You can do this using any of the following methods. 

• Right-click anywhere on the Ribbon → Select Customize the Ribbon.

• Alternatively, you can go to File → Options → Customize Ribbon option from the dialog box.

Step 2: Create and Name Your Custom Tab

• Click the New Tab button in the right panel

• Give your tab a descriptive name. You can do this by following the steps:
  • Right-click on New Tab (Custom)
  • Rename

• Add a New Group within your tab. This is required before adding commands.

Step 3: Add Commands to Your Custom Groups

1. Select your custom group in the right panel
2. From the left panel, choose commands from “Popular Commands” or switch to “All Commands”
3. Select a command → Click the Add button in the centre
4. Use the Up/Down arrows to arrange commands in your preferred order

Advanced Customization Tips

Customizing the Ribbon transforms Excel from a generic tool into your personal productivity platform. Here are some additional steps that will help you get the best out of the customization feature of the Excel Ribbon.

Keyboard Shortcuts to Use the Ribbon Efficiently

You can enhance your efficiency in Excel by mastering these keyboard shortcuts for Ribbon navigation. This comprehensive cheat sheet will enable you to minimize mouse usage, and operate Excel with greater speed and precision.

Navigate the Ribbon

Control Ribbon Display

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Conclusion

The Excel Ribbon is a powerful and user-friendly command centre that organizes all of Excel’s features in one place. From managing data and inserting visuals to customizing the interface for your workflow, the Ribbon simplifies your tasks by organizing functions into easy-to-access tabs and groups. Learning to hide, unhide, and customize the Ribbon allows you to create a workspace that fits your needs. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced user, the Excel Ribbon is your pathway to become more productive and confident in your spreadsheet skills.
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Excel Ribbon: A Quick Guide for Beginners – FAQs