Microsoft Project 2013: The Missing Manual

Customizing the Ribbon

As you’ve seen throughout this book, the ribbon is made up of several tabs, like Task, Resource, Report, Project, View, and Format. Within each tab, related commands are kept close to one another. For example, the Insert group (a.k.a section) of the Task tab contains commands for inserting tasks, summary tasks, milestones, and deliverables. Some commands reside in a group of one, like the lonely Subproject command in the Project tab’s Insert group. The groups are visually separated from one another by vertical lines.

You can customize the ribbon to match how you work, whether you want to create your own tabs and groups; add groups you create to the program’s built-in tabs; add commands to groups; reorder tabs, groups, and commands; or remove tabs, groups, and commands you don’t use.

You customize the ribbon via the “Customize the Ribbon” page of the Project Options dialog box. The fastest way to reach this page is to right-click the ribbon and then choose “Customize the Ribbon.” The long way around is to choose File→Options and then, on the left side of the Project Options dialog box, click Customize Ribbon.

Turning Tabs On and Off

The ribbon comes with several ready-made tabs, most of which are visible when you first launch Project. Whether you use the built-in tabs or build your own, you can turn tabs on when you need them and then turn them off to keep the ribbon tidy the rest of the time. For example, if a rousing session of macro development sounds like fun, ...