We’ve told you before about tactics to adjust to the Ribbon interface in Microsoft Office, including customising the Ribbon to make finding the features you want more straightforward. A new downloadable tab called ‘Favorites’ groups together the most commonly-accessed features according to Microsoft’s analysis of user click patterns, which might represent a good starting point for your own customisations.
Favorites are available for all the main Office programs. To import one after you’ve downloaded it for a specific program, hit the Options button, choose Customize Ribbon, and then Import/export. Note that this will delete any existing Ribbon customisations (you can modify the options again after you’ve added the Ribbon).
One of Microsoft’s main arguments in favour of the Ribbon is that it logically groups options together so they are easy to find. Counter-examples (like table tools) aside, the Favorites tabs do look suspiciously like those which can be found on the File menu, which suggests our habits take time to shift. Regardless, having the ability to customise does mean you can make the options you use regularly more visible.
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