before you get started on your first
workbook you might want to take a minute
to explore your Excel environment in
detail and customize it in a way that
will work for you
for example the ribbon contains multiple
tabs each with several groups of
commands did you know you can create
your own tabs and your own groups to
make your favorite commands more
convenient it's easy just right-click
anywhere on the ribbon and choose
customize the ribbon now click new tab
to add a new tab of your own your new
tab appears on the list along with a new
group which is the part of the tab that
will hold your commands you can even add
commands to any of the main tabs like
the Home tab as long as you create a new
group in that tab now make sure your new
group is selected then look to the list
on the left for the commands you'd like
to add I want my custom tab to have a
group devoted to design elements like
borders fill colors and graphics so I
immediately see borders at the top all
you have to do is click the command then
add another way to add commands is to
drag and drop them from one list to the
other now I'd like to give my tab a name
something personalized that'll help me
find it on the ribbon just select the
tab click rename and enter it here I'm
going to name mine design shortcuts when
you're done click OK and here's my
custom tab now if you find the ribbon is
taking up too much space on your screen
you can minimize it by clicking the tiny
arrow in the upper right corner when the
ribbon is minimized you can make it
reappear by clicking any one of the tabs
but it will disappear again when you're
not using it we're going to go ahead and
expand the ribbon again then turn our
attention to the quick access toolbar in
the upper left corner designed to give
you access to frequently used commands
no matter where you are on the ribbon it
includes save undo and redo by default
but can be customized to also include
your favorites I personally use new and
open a lot for creating an opening
workbooks so I'm going to click the
drop-down arrow here
to customize the toolbar and add those
commands finally if you're familiar with
Excel 2007 you may have noticed that the
office button is missing it's been
replaced by the file tab the file tab
takes you to the new backstage view
where you can explore all the options
related to your current workbook and
more that includes things like print
save and send and recent files it's
everything you would have found in the
old office or File menu except now you
have a nice full page view for example I
like the convenience of being able to
see all the workbooks I've worked on
most recently so I can pick up right
where I left off that covers the Excel
environment in detail now that we know
how to use and customize the different
features including the backstage view
the ribbon and the quick access toolbar
we can start our first workbook like
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