Toolbars Palettes

Toolbars & Palettes

Word includes a number of toolbars and palettes for various purposes. Each one includes buttons or menus that activate menu commands or set options.

By default, Word automatically displays a toolbar and a palette when you launch it:

• The Standard toolbar (Figure 10) offers buttons for a wide range of commonly used commands.

  Figure 10. The Standard toolbar.

  
  
  

• The Formatting Palette (Figure 11) offers buttons and menus for formatting selected items.

  Figure 11. The Formatting Palette with several areas of options displayed.

  

  
  

Tips

• The options that appear on the Formatting Palette (Figure 11) vary depending on what is selected.

• You can expand or collapse the Formatting Palette by clicking a triangle beside a tool category heading (Figure 11).

• Other toolbars may appear automatically depending on the task you are performing with Word.

• Buttons with faint icon images (for example, Cut in Figure 10) cannot be selected.

• A button that appears in a gray box with rounded edges is "turned on." The Formatting Palette button in Figure 10 is a good example.

• A toolbar can be docked or floating. A docked toolbar is positioned against the top or bottom of the screen and the document window automatically resizes and repositions around it. A floating toolbar can be moved anywhere onscreen and, when positioned on top of the document window, "floats" above the window's contents.

To view more buttons

Click the More Buttons button at the far-right end of the toolbar. Additional buttons for the toolbar appear in a menu (Figure 12).

Figure 12. Clicking the More Buttons button displays a menu of additional options.

To view ScreenTips

Point to a toolbar or palette button. A tiny yellow box containing the name of the button appears (Figure 13).

Figure 13. A ScreenTip appears when you point to a button.

To use a toolbar button

1.	Point to the button for the command or option that you want (Figure 13).
2.	Click once.

To use a toolbar menu

1.	Click on the triangle beside the menu to display the menu and its commands (Figure 14). Figure 14. Click the triangle beside the menu to display the menu.
2.	Click a command or option to select it.

Tip

• Menus that display text boxes (Figure 14) can be changed by typing a new value into the box. Just click the contents of the box to select it (Figure 15), then type in the new value and press (Figure 16).

  Figure 15. Select the current value...

  

  
  

  Figure 16. ...enter a new value, and press .

  

  
  

To turn a menu into a floating palette

1.	Click the arrow beside a toolbar button to display its menu (Figure 17). Figure 17. The Font Color menu appears when you click the triangle beside the Font Color button.
2.	If the menu displays a dotted move handle along its top edge (Figure 17), click the move handle (Figure 18) to turn the menu into a floating palette (Figure 19). Figure 18. When you click a menu's move handle... Figure 19. ...the menu appears as a floating palette.

Tips

• In step 2, if the menu does not display a dotted move handle along its top edge (Figure 14), it cannot be turned into a floating palette.

• You can move a floating palette by dragging its title bar.

• To close a floating palette, click its close button.

To display or hide a toolbar

Choose the name of the toolbar that you want to display or hide from the Toolbars submenu under the View menu (Figure 8).

If the toolbar name has a check mark beside it, the toolbar is currently displayed and selecting the toolbar name will hide it.

Or

If the toolbar name does not have a check mark beside it, the toolbar is hidden and selecting the toolbar name will display it.

Tip

• You can also hide a floating toolbar by clicking its close button (Figure 20).

  Figure 20. The close button and move handle for a toolbar normally appear on its far-left end.

  

  
  

To display or hide the Formatting Palette

Choose View > Formatting Palette (Figure 21).

Figure 21. Display or hide the Formatting Palette by choosing its command from the View menu.

If the Formatting Palette command has a check mark beside it, the Formatting Palette is currently displayed and selecting the command will hide it.

Or

If the Formatting Palette command does not have a check mark beside it, the Formatting Palette is hidden and selecting the command will display it.

Tips

• You can also display or hide the Formatting Palette by clicking the Formatting Palette button on the Standard toolbar.

• You can also hide the Formatting Palette by clicking its close button (Figure 11).

To move a toolbar or palette

Drag the move handle for the toolbar (Figure 20) or title bar for the palette to reposition it onscreen.

To resize a toolbar

Drag the resize control in the lower-right corner of the toolbar (Figures 22 and 23).

Figure 22. Drag the lower-right corner of a toolbar to resize it...

Figure 23. ...to almost any dimensions.