How Many Items Can be Added to the Quick Access Toolbar?

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 5, 2020)
This tip applies to Word 2021


1

Liz is thinking of upgrading to Office 365. She tried it as a free trial, but it only seemed to allow adding a very few items to the Quick Access Toolbar. So, Liz is wondering if Microsoft has reduced the number of items that can be put on the QAT.

The short answer is no, they haven't decreased the number. What Liz may be detecting is that Microsoft increased the width of the tools you can add to the QAT. (They did this to make it easier to use the tools on a touch screen.) This means that the number of tools visible on the screen will appear to be fewer than in older versions of Word. You can keep adding them just like you always have, though.

In fact, there doesn't seem to be an upper limit to the number of tools you can add. The number of tools displayed will be limited by the resolution and size of your monitor, as mentioned, but you can keep adding, even if you can't immediately see all the tools. If not all of the tools can be displayed, then Word displays a >> icon at the right side of the QAT. Click the icon, and you'll see more tools on a "pop-out row." If you have even more tools (in other words, the number of tools can't be displayed in the pop-out row), then at the end of that row you'll see a drop-down arrow you can click to display even more tools.

A common request made by those with many tools on their QAT is that the overflow be automatically displayed on a second row, without the need to click the >> icon. If you would like to lend your voice to this request, you can do so by visiting this page on Microsoft's User Voice site:

https://word.uservoice.com/forums/304924-word-for-windows-desktop-application/suggestions/42069706-qat-overflow-to-2nd-row

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (13806) applies to Microsoft Word 2021.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Understanding Font Styles

Fonts, by default, come with one or more styles that define variations of how that font is displayed in your document. ...

Discover More

Two Keys with the Press of One

Sometimes it could be helpful to have Word substitute two characters for the one that you type, for instance, to replace ...

Discover More

Editing a Hyperlink

Excel will cheerfully keep track of all sorts of hyperlinks for you. If you want to change the hyperlink in some way, ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 365 applications with VBA programming. Written in clear terms and understandable language, the book includes systematic tutorials and contains both intermediate and advanced content for experienced VB developers. Designed to be comprehensive, the book addresses not just one Office application, but the entire Office suite. Check out Mastering VBA for Microsoft Office 365 today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Changing the Style Area Font

The style area, displayed at the left side of your document, can be helpful in understanding how styles are used in your ...

Discover More

Displaying the Developer Tab

The Developer tab of the ribbon is the gateway to many advanced features in Word, including those features related to ...

Discover More

Cannot View Multiple Pages at Once

What do you do when a ribbon tool you rely upon suddenly disappears? That's the situation addressed in this tip, where ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is four less than 7?

2020-12-05 22:22:18

Thiers Halliwell

I use several COM Add-ins with MS Word, but in its 'wisdom' it sometimes decides to omit them because it considers they slow the start-up process, meaning that I have to reload them manually using the Developer/COM Add-ins pane.
Is there any way of making the Add-ins permanently 'sticky'?


This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Videos
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.