How to reduce spacing between icons on quick access toolbar?

Anonymous
2013-03-13T22:55:12+00:00

Office 365 seems ok, though can't yet identify any improvements over 2010. However a HUGE negative is the increased spacing between icons on the QAT, which means that about 14 fewer icons fit across the screen. I appreciate that MS did this to allow easier access to the macros through touch, but I don't need this (even though I have a touch computer). I want my old icon spacing back. If anyone knows how to do this I will buy them a (metaphorical) beer. Otherwise, it is probably back to 2010 for me, unless I can find any ways in which 365 is better.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
Jay Freedman 208.3K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
2013-03-14T01:07:15+00:00

Edit: The answer below was correct for the Office Technical Preview at the time it was written. In a later update of the Preview, the ability to reduce the spacing of the Quick Access Toolbar was removed, and it is still absent in the released version as of September 2015. Please visit http://office.uservoice.com/forums/285186-general/suggestions/9906966-office-2016-quick-access-toolbar-too-wide and vote to have the Mouse Mode spacing of the Quick Access Toolbar restored.

=======

The Office 2013 / Office 365 programs have a touch mode with wider spacing, and a mouse mode with the same spacing as previous versions. (This affects both the Quick Access Toolbar and the ribbon.)

Click the down-arrow at the right end of the Quick Access Toolbar and click the item "Touch/Mouse Mode". The button that appears shows a hand with the index finger extended and touching a blue spot. Click that button and choose the mouse mode.

Was this answer helpful?

0 comments

48 additional answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2015-11-12T20:10:10+00:00

    [...]

    Click the down-arrow at the right end of the Quick Access Toolbar and click the item "Touch/Mouse Mode". The button that appears shows a hand with the index finger extended and touching a blue spot. Click that button and choose the mouse mode.

    Is there any way to do this for Office 2016?

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2015-10-02T15:30:01+00:00

    One other question for you guys. if this doesn't get fixed, is there a way to lock which ribbon shows, so the ribbon showing at the top doesn't change contextually based on what you're doing on the page? I created a custom ribbon that gives me everything on my old QAT, plus a ton of other stuff, but as I work on my slides, the ribbon at the top changes based on the context of what I'm doing. If I could just lock the focus on my "QAT replacement" ribbon, my problem would be for the most part solved. Yeah, the ribbon is taller than the QAT, but that's survivable.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2015-10-01T02:24:50+00:00

    Some maybe temporary good news in relation to the update to 365/2016. My system asked me to upgrade this morning (I guess because it is 1 October). I x'd that off and took a (RecImg) recovery image in case I need to restore in order to get rid of 2016.  However, when I rebooted, I am happy to report that Office 2013 was still in place. Once I hear that MS has sorted out the Office 2016 QAT icon spacing fiasco, I will be happy to upgrade.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2015-09-30T19:16:15+00:00

    There's a topic on this on the User Voice site that you can upvote to help drive this as a priority to fix http://office.uservoice.com/forums/285186-general/suggestions/9906966-office-2016-quick-access-toolbar-too-wide#comments

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments