Leading the way in Microsoft Office Development

Step 1 - Display the Customise Toolbar dialog box

The menu bar is actually a special type of toolbar and the drop-down menus are still considered to be commands.

Toolbars can contain a mixture of menus and buttons, although they are usually one or the other. The Drawing toolbar being the exception.

Select (Tools > Customise) to display the Customise dialog box.

Another quick way to display this dialog box is right mouse click on any toolbar and select "Customise" at the bottom.

Select the Commands tab and scroll to the bottom of the Categories list.

 (View > Customise)(Command tab) dialog box

You can only manipulate toolbars and menus while this dialog box is displayed.

Step 2 - Insert the new Menu on your toolbar

It is possible to add new menus to any toolbar and not just to the menu bar.

In the Commands list box, select "New Menu". Drag this button to your toolbar.

For the purpose of this example I am dragging it to the Menu Bar, but you can drag it anywhere even in between existing drop-down menus.

Step 3 - Enter the name of your new menu

Right mouse click the menu and select Name.

Type the name you want to appear at the top of your menu, in this case "MyCustomMenu".

You can add an ampersand character (&) before a letter to indicate this character is to be used as a shortcut key.

Adding an ampersand creates what is sometimes referred to as a Hot Key.

Step 4 - Adding buttons and extra commands to the menu

To add command buttons to this new menu, you just drag them from the (Tools > Customise) dialog box.

Selects the Commands tab.

If you want to drag any new commands to a menu you can drag the button over the menu name.

After a short pause the drop-down menu will open allowing you to insert the new command.

To add a command button choose "Macros" and then drag "Custom Button" to your drop-down menu.

To add an extension menu choose "New Menu" and then drag "New Menu" to your drop-down menu.

Step 5 - Removing a Custom Menu

The easiest way to remove a custom menu is to hold down the Alt key and drag the menu heading away from the toolbar.

Alternatively you can drag the menu away from the toolbar when the (Tools > Customise) dialog box is displayed.

Step 6 - Things to Remember

Before you can add any command buttons to a new drop-down menu the drop-down menu has to have been created first.

It is also possible to add a new menu command to any toolbar.

You can insert your customised drop-down menu at a specific location on the Menu bar although this is not recommended, always add it to the end. The reason for this - is that you do not know what other add-ins the person may have installed or whether they have customised their Menu Bar.