This course demonstrates how to access and leverage a treasure trove of hidden features in the Excel Quick Access toolbar that will help you avoid frustration and fly through repetitive tasks.

Taught by how-to Excel expert David H. Ringstrom, CPA, this course focuses on an often overlooked corner of Excel--the Quick Access Toolbar. Located just above the Office button in Excel 2007 and the File tab in Excel 2010, this default set of three little icons has the potential to transform how you use Excel.

You learn to:

  • Simplify repetitive tasks by creating your own keyboard shortcuts via the Quick Access toolbar
  • Restore "classic" Print Preview functionality to Excel 2007 and later
  • Keep an eye on how much your text is being reduced as you try to squeeze more onto a page
  • Double-check manual inputs with ease by having Excel read numbers aloud to you
  • Wrangle long lists of data by filtering instead of sorting
  • Add the hidden Form Command back to Excel 2007 and later
  • Simplify the Alt-E-S-V keyboard shortcut many users rely on to Paste as Values
  • Strike through list items  with a custom shortcut
  • Toggle the Locked status of a worksheet cell on or off by way of a custom shortcut
Learning Objectives
  • Create a keyboard shortcut that enables you to filter lists based on the currently selected cell.
  • Restore the "classic" print preview from Excel 2007 and earlier in Excel 2010 and later.
  • Freeze or unfreeze worksheet panes by way of an icon and/or custom keyboard shortcut.
Last updated/reviewed: August 24, 2023
34 Reviews (115 ratings)

Reviews

5
Anonymous Author
It has been awhile since I have actively worked in Excel, for anyone except myself. The shortcuts are great! There is so much information and it lends to efficiency in other programs as well, it is a real eye opener!

4
Member's Profile
I learned a couple new items, but towards the end the instructor just kept saying the same thing over & over about the alt key. Then you get to the exam & the questions don't really follow the material.

4
Anonymous Author
I have not been using the Quick Access Toolbar to it's fullest potential. I will definitely be customizing my toolbar to bring most frequently used Excel features front and center.

4
Anonymous Author
A little repetitious if you listen straight through, but I learned a couple of new things and I thought I was pretty good with the quick access toolbar.

5
Anonymous Author
Presented in a very learn friendly manner. Very beneficial to know how to save time working on a spredsheet. Quick Access Tool bar saves time.

4
Anonymous Author
I knew about the quick access bar, but not so much the alt keys. I'll be adding more to the quick access bar as I use excel at work.

5
Member's Profile
Excellent course. I learned several things I didn't know and look forward to adding the shortcuts to the Quick Access Toolbar.

5
Anonymous Author
I liked learning how to customize the quick access tool bar. It will definitely save time when working on a spreadsheet.

5
Anonymous Author
David Ringstrom does a great job, as always. The course is well laid out and packed with lots of good information.

5
Member's Profile
Now that I see how easy it is to create shortcuts you better believe I will take more advantage of the feature.

5
Anonymous Author
The lesson included many shortcuts I'll be able to incorporate daily and the examples were very helpful.

5
Member's Profile
the varying commands, some i didnt knnow about. Too many refernces to how to attach to toolbar

5
Member's Profile
As a long time.excel user, I was supposed surprised at the number of good tips in this course.

4
Anonymous Author
Good and quick course regarding a little used feature. I plan to implement on my spreadsheet.

Anonymous Author
Good course with lots of great tips. The slides were a little tricky to follow however.

3
Member's Profile
Good information for creating shortcuts. Information on Print Preview especially helpful

5
Anonymous Author
This course provided many tips to help make me work more efficiently in Excel. Thanks!

4
Anonymous Author
Lots of valuable tips and tricks - will save me a bunch of time doing repetitive tasks.

4
Anonymous Author
The videos have too much screenshots that make my eyes confused where to look at to.

5
Anonymous Author
I already use the QAT but I still learned lots of new things. Excellent course.

5
Member's Profile
Very useful excel information. Some tips to really help improve efficiency.

5
Member's Profile
Great information on quick access toolbars. I would recommend this course.

3
Anonymous Author
its was ok, some of it was tedious and hard to follow along with

3
Member's Profile
Pretty nice overview. Can be useful to anyone using excel.

5
Member's Profile
Useful tips for accessing the toolbar - thanks for the help!

5
Anonymous Author
This was a well-presented course. I used it as a refresher.

3
Anonymous Author
The test was not as straight forward as you would assume.

5
Member's Profile
Good tips for hidden and useful features in Excel.

5
Member's Profile
Great course! Very informative and helpful.

4
Member's Profile
Good course, nice tips to learn & practice

5
Member's Profile
Good Course

5
Anonymous Author
Time-saver!

4
Member's Profile
Good tips.

5
Member's Profile
Great!

Prerequisites
Course Complexity: Advanced

Prerequisite: Proficiency with Excel

 

Advanced Preparation: None

 

Education Provider Information
Company: Illumeo, Inc., 75 East Santa Clara St., Suite 1215, San Jose, CA 95113
Contact: For more information regarding this course, including complaint and cancellation policies, please contact our offices at (408) 400- 3993 or send an e-mail to .
Instructor for this course
Course Syllabus
INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
Quick Access Toolbar
  Undo; Email Shortcut; Center Text7:46
  Classic Print Preview; Print Scale; Text to Speech6:28
  Filtering; Form Command10:03
  Freeze Panes; Paste Values5:55
  Strikethrough; Lock Cells8:16
CONCLUSION
  Closing Remarks1:00
Continuous Play
  Excel Efficiency: Quick Access Toolbar43:06
SUPPORTING MATERIALS
  Excel Efficiency Quick Access Toolbar-Excel 2007-2013xlsx
  Slides: Excel Efficiency: Quick Access ToolbarPDF
  Excel Efficiency: Quick Access Toolbar Glossary/IndexPDF
REVIEW & TEST
  REVIEW QUESTIONSquiz
 FINAL EXAMexam