Customizable toolbars and menus were introduced in Outlook 98. (Toolbars and menus are treated as essentially the same thing.) Outlook adds-in written with C++ also can add items to the toolbar.
The toolbars remained virtually unchanged until Outlook 2007 introduced a hybrid ribbon interface, with standard toolbars in the main Outlook window and ribbons on the individual Outlook items (except for Notes). The toolbars can be customized in the same manner as previous versions: right-click in the toolbar area and choose Customize. The ribbon is not customizable, however a "Quick Access Toolbar" is customizable.
Outlook 2007 | Outlook 98 and Later Versions
Outlook 2000 and 2002 Hyperlink and Macro Buttons
Tools | Other Methods | More Information
Outlook 2010, 2013, 2016
Outlook 2010 is the first version that completely eliminated the standard toolbars. Office 2010 adds the ability to easily customize the ribbon (along with the quick access toolbar) and export it as a backup or to share with others. The method is similar to the method used with Outlook 2007.
You cannot create hyperlinked buttons to launch forms or other applications from the ribbon or QAT. You can use a script to launch files or applications and assign the macro to a button. See Create Toolbar Buttons to Open Templates and Files for the necessary VBA and instructions.
Use the following steps to customize the ribbon or QAT in Outlook 2010, Outlook 2013, or Outlook 2016:
- Click File, then Options
- Select either Customize ribbon or Quick Access Toolbar

- If you are adding a command to the ribbon, you'll need to add a new group to an existing tab or a new tab and a new group using the New Group and New Tab buttons.
- Find the command on the left and click Add to add it to the new group.
- Click Rename if you want to change the name or change the icon.
Outlook 2007
The Outlook 2007 ribbon is not easily customized. You need to create a new custom ribbon using XML to add buttons to the ribbon, however, you can add buttons to the Quick Access Toolbar (QAT) in the top left. You can assign macros to the QAT but cannot launch forms or other applications from a QAT button. You are limited to the button icons provided by Outlook (unless you create a custom ribbon).
The standard toolbar in the main Outlook window is customizable. If you want to create buttons linked to files, see Create Toolbar Buttons to Open Templates and Files.
Office 2007's ribbon interface doesn't allow you to create custom toolbars as older versions of Office did, however, you can use the Quick Access Toolbar (QAT) to bring your most used commands within easy reach.
The QAT is the row of buttons across the top of open Outlook items (messages, appointments, calendar, tasks, journal).
To add commands to the QAT, click the down arrow to the right of the bar and select More Commands from the menu. Select the commands you wish to add (or remove) and close the dialog when finished.

You can use Alt+n shortcuts with the commands on the QAT.

Outlook 98 - Outlook 2003
To customize the toolbar and menu in Outlook 98 and later versions, right-click anywhere on the toolbar, and then choose Customize. Drag new commands from the Commands tab to the toolbar. Drag unwanted command away from the toolbar to remove them. You can also right-click on any button or menu command to customize it.
To reset a toolbar or menu to its original appearance, in the Customize dialog, on the Toolbars tab, select the toolbar, and then click Reset.
Outlook 2000 and 2002 Hyperlink and Macro Buttons
When you add new buttons in Outlook 2000 and 2002, you can use them to run other programs, Internet hyperlinks or macros that you create in Outlook VBA.
To add a program or Internet link:
- Drag any button from the Commands tab of the Customize dialog to the toolbar.
- Right-click the new button, and enter a new Name.
- Choose Assign Hyperlink | Open.
- In the Assign Hyperlink dialog, select a file or web page. You can also type in any other type of URL, such as mailto:somebody@anycompany.com to send an e-mail message.
- Click OK, then Close to finish adding the hyperlink button.
To add a macro, you must first create the macro in VBA. Then, follow these steps:
- From the Commands tab of the Customize dialog, drag the macro to the toolbar.
- Right-click the new button, and enter a new Name, and then press Enter. If you want the button to open with a keyboard shortcut, insert the & character before the character in the name that you want to use as the shortcut. Outlook will assign Alt+character to that button.
- Click Close to finish adding the hyperlink button.
Other Methods
If you use WordMail as your e-mail editor, you can create additional toolbars to use with e-mail messages. To do this, you must open your default e-mail template (usually Email.dot) in Word itself, then use View | Toolbars | Customize to create a new toolbar (or add a button to an existing toolbar). Note that you won't be able to change the Outlook Send Mail toolbar. After you save Email.dot, create a new message in Outlook. You should be able to use View | Toolbars to see the new toolbar you created in Word.
You can add a link to a particular form to the Microsoft Office toolbar using this command for the shortcut:
<path>\Outlook.exe /c IPM.MyForm
where <path> is the path to Outlook.exe on your machine and IPM.MyForm is the name of a form you have created and published to Personal Folders.
If you want to add a menu command to a particular type of item, this can be done by creating a custom form action. See Creating a "New Fax to Contact" Action for an example.
More Information
- To launch a custom form
- OL2000 - How to Customize Toolbars and Menus
- OL2000 - How to Use Personal Menus and Personal Toolbars explains why sometimes your toolbars customize themselves!
- OL2000 - Custom Font Drop-down Toolbar can Cause Problem

Leave a Reply
70 Comments on "Customize the Outlook Toolbar, Ribbon or QAT"
In Outlook 2010 when I attempt to customize a ribbon all of the options are blank or greyed out. Is there an administrator setting I need to change that will give me access to change the ribbons?
All options are disabled or just some? If the command isn't valid for whatever you're doing, it will be disabled (grayed).
After an upgrade from W7 to W10, I find that the QAT has no options to add or customize, everything is gray. When I go to file/options//QAT (or Customize Ribbon), the panes are empty, there is nothing in the Choose commands from pull down list.
Excel and Word are working correctly.
Is this a common problem with Windows 10?
ABOVE WAS QUERY IN SEPTEMBER 2015 - THIS IS A PROBLEM I HAVE DISCOVERED AS WELL AND GOING TO 'FILE' 'OPTIONS' ETC. DOES NOT ALLOW ME TO ADD OR DELETE AS EVERYTHING IS GRAY ALSO. ANY ADVICE??
I don't think it's common - there are some issues that are more common after upgrading.
It sounds like it's in a deactivated state, which is odd since word works. I'd start with a repair in control panel, programs and features.
In the customize QAT section, modify is grayed out and unavailable. It's odd. On the left side of the screen where all commands are shown, the icons are there. When I add it to the QAT, the icon appears. When I click ok, the command appears as a circle on the QAT in Outlook. When I return to customize the QAT, the icon still appears in the all commands section, but it has changed to a circle in the QAT section. It is the same with all 4 different icons I associates with commands, all chosen from the icon list.
Thank you for your great articles! They have been a real help. I am using Outlook 2013. I created a new tab in the ribbon, gave it an icon, and gave the commands under it icons. On the ribbon it looks great. When I add those same commands to the quick access toolbar, there are only green circles for icons! Four green circles in a row isn't much help. The icons are visible in the dialog box to customize the quick access toolbar, they just aren't on the toolbar itself. Can you help?
if you click modify and choose another icon, does it show?
Before I could round up my install DVD to try the repair, it healed itself. Maybe it was something I did and then un-did, unknowingly.
No, there is a window much like the one at the top of this article except there is nothing to select and move onto the QAT. Reset does nothing.
Definitely try repairing the install.
After an upgrade from W7 to W10, I find that the QAT has no options to add or customize, everything is gray. When I go to file/options//QAT (or Customize Ribbon), the panes are empty, there is nothing in the Choose commands from pull down list.
Excel and Word are working correctly.
Is this a common problem with Windows 10?
this is the first report I've seen... my guess is the permissions on the customui file is goofy. Go into File, Options, Quick Access toolbar - can you edit or reset it there?
Wow, Diane, your work on this website is amazing. Question... Outlook 2010, Windows 7. I have a few custom buttons in my main ribbon that run macros. They work great most of the time. Once in a while, though, clicking on them does nothing (no errors, etc.). Closing and restarting Outlook solves it every time. When the buttons don't work, the VBA editor also won't open (until restarting Outlook).
I'm curious if you've heard of this???
It sounds like you have some corruption - I'd definitely copy the macros to a text file or export them and also export the ribbon customizations. If it starts to act up more often, delete the vb project file and recreate it.