Chapter 2: Ribbon and Quick Access Toolbar
Using Microsoft Office 365 With A Keyboard

 Chapter List

Section 1: Overview

Welcome to the Office Ribbon and Quick Access Toolbar tutorial.

 In this tutorial you will learn how to get around the Ribbon using the keyboard and how to make use of the Quick Access Toolbar. You will also learn some useful SuperNova and ScreenReader hot keys that will make you even more productive.

So, what is the Ribbon and Quick Access Toolbar?

The Ribbon replaces the menus and toolbars that existed in previous versions of Microsoft Office and is found towards the top of the screen, sitting between the title bar and the document window.

On top of the Ribbon is a series of Tabs. The Tabs are aligned horizontally with each Tab containing a set of ribbon commands.

The Quick Access Toolbar usually sits above the Ribbon Tabs and shows Ribbon commands you regularly use and require easy access too. You can add and remove items to and from this toolbar.

Section 2: Navigating the Ribbon

To access the Ribbon Tabs, press ALT or F10. The first tab control becomes active. Use the RIGHT ARROW to move across the Ribbon Tabs and use the left ARROW to move back again. As you move from Tab to Tab the options in the ribbon update to match the currently selected tab.

Within each ribbon, the commands are gathered together into logical groups. For example, in the Microsoft Word "Home" tab you can find commands like size, bold, italic and underline in the "Font" group and commands like alignment and line spacing in the "Paragraph" group.

To move through the commands in the Ribbon press the TAB key. You can press SHIFT + TAB to move back to the previous command. To jump to the next group press CONTROL + RIGHT ARROW and press CONTROL + LEFT ARROW to jump back to the previous group.

To exit the Ribbon and go back to the document window, press the ALT key or ESCAPE.

Keyboard commands for the Ribbon

You can use the keyboard or the mouse to move through and select the controls on the Ribbon. The following table lists keyboard commands to use when working with the ribbon.

Function Hot Key
Select the active tab of the Ribbon ALT or F10. Press either of these keys again to move back to the document
Move to another tab of the Ribbon ALT or F10 to select the active tab, and then LEFT ARROW or RIGHT ARROW
Display the shortcut menu SHIFT + F10
Move the focus to select each of the following areas of the window: active tab of the Ribbon, view status bar at the bottom of the window and your document F6
Move the focus to each command group in the Ribbon CONTROL + LEFT ARROW or RIGHT ARROW
Move the focus to each command in the Ribbon ALT or F10, and then TAB or SHIFT+TAB
Move down, up, left, or right among the items in the Ribbon Arrow Keys
Activate the selected command, menu, gallery or control in the Ribbon SPACEBAR or ENTER
Activate a command or control in the Ribbon so you can modify a value ENTER
Get help on the selected command or control in the Ribbon. (If no Help topic is associated with the selected command, the Help table of contents for that program is shown instead.) F1

Get additional help about an item in the Ribbon

You can use the Additional Focus Information hot key to learn more about a control selected in the Ribbon. This hot key describes the purpose of the control and describes the Office shortcut key for the control.

To read Additional Focus Information:

Function Desktop - Default NumPad Set Laptop - Universal Set
Read Additional Focus Information LEFT SHIFT + NUMPAD 0 CONTROL + CAPS LOCK + UP ARROW

Get the Office shortcut key for an item in the Ribbon

You can use the Describe Shortcut hot key to learn the Office keyboard command for the current item in the Ribbon. This will speak the keys to press to navigate the Ribbon plus any assigned hot key for the item.

Function Desktop - Default NumPad Set Laptop - Universal Set
Describe Shortcut Key LEFT SHIFT + NUMPAD PERIOD CONTROL + CAPS LOCK + UP ARROW

Change what SuperNova announces in the Ribbon

You can control what you are automatically told about a button, a check box, a menu item or any other type of control by changing your Verbosity Level. The lower the Verbosity Level, the less information that is automatically announced about the control.

You can change Verbosity Level through the SuperNova Control Panel or by using a hot key:

Function Desktop - Default NumPad Set Laptop - Universal Set
Cycle Verbosity Scheme CAPS LOCK + EQUALS CAPS LOCK + V

Hide or show the Ribbon

You can minimise the Ribbon with a hot key. This will leave only the tabs visible on the screen. This increases the size of the document window.

When the Ribbon is minimised, you must press ENTER to open the Ribbon Tab before you can navigate the available controls.

Function Hot Key
Show or hide the Ribbon CONTROL + F1

Section 3: Making use of the Quick Access Toolbar

As previously mentioned the Quick Access Toolbar usually sits above the Ribbon Tabs and shows Ribbon commands you regularly use and require easy access too. You can add and remove items to and from this toolbar.

Microsoft Office offers a number of different ways to add items to the Quick Access Toolbar. One popular way is to use the context menu.
To do this:

  1. In the Ribbon, locate the item you want to add to the Quick Access Toolbar.
  2. Press SHIFT + F10 to open a context menu.
  3. DOWN ARROW to "Add to Quick Access Toolbar" and press ENTER. Microsoft Office closes the menu and adds the item to the Quick Access Toolbar.

Although it is possible to access the Quick Access Toolbar using the keyboard, one quick way to access the items on the Quick Access Toolbar is to use the SuperNova Item Finder. This will display a list of the items on the toolbar, where you can then choose to perform a left mouse click or right mouse click on any selected item.

Function Desktop - Default NumPad Set Laptop - Universal Set
List the items on the Quick Access Toolbar CAPS LOCK + Q CAPS LOCK + Q