(this post is an aside, but I was happy to discover this and thought you might be too. HT to Jan Schultink, who has taught me a LOT more about effective presentations than this….but this little nugget will make me happy for a long time.)
Admittedly, I should have figured this out myself a long time ago. But I migrated to PowerPoint 2007 recently and use PowerPoint just infrequently enough that I’m not investing time to figure out how it works.
Generally I find this software infuriating and counterintuitive. Microsoft undoubtedly knows what functions most people use most of the time, yet somehow it takes more and more clicks to find these useful functions.
The good news is you can very easily take your favorite buttons and put them permanently on the bar across the top. Not by dragging (which would be easier and much more intuitive), but it is just two steps if you know where to look.
Right click on the Start Menu and click on “Customize QuickAccess Toolbar”
STEP 2: Find the icons for things you do all the time, and move them to the list on the right. Organize the list to your liking, and voila, you’re finished.
While this is trivial, I suspect it will save me about 40 hours over the course of the next year. Thanks, Jan!
“But I migrated to PowerPoint 2007 recently…”
Did you have to stand in line at the Microsoft store?
I’ve been using Office 2007 for about a year now and I agree about it being irritating that buttons and menus moved. I’m used to the location for things now and I enjoy and use many of the new features. The custom toolbar does save a lot of time. Thankfully the short cut keys are the same which can make things even quicker.
Wait until you guys try Office 2011. Oh boy. Crazy buttons.