Controlling the Reviewing Toolbar
Ever wonder why the Reviewing toolbar surfaces when opening some documents
but not others? Are you growing tired of continuously closing the Reviewing
toolbar? If you want to rid yourself of the Reviewing toolbar annoyance then
this article is for you!
Background
Back in the October 2002 issue of TechTrax I wrote an article discussing
another Word annoyance titled “Do you
want to Merge Changes”.
Although I didn’t specify the Reviewing toolbar behavior in the article,
the automatic surfacing of the Reviewing toolbar is caused by the same option
in Outlook 2002.
For those who do not want to read the full article and want the nutshell
version, when sending an Office document as a file attachment in Outlook 2002,
by default Outlook 2002 will add AdHoc review properties to the file which
causes the Reviewing toolbar to surface.
The Automatic Review option in Outlook can be disabled by performing the
following steps:
1)
Click Tools in the menu bar
2)
Then select Options
3)
On the Preferences tab click E-mail options…
4)
Then click Advanced E-mail options…
5)
At the bottom disable Add properties to attachments to enable
Reply with Changes
Figure
1 - Advanced E-Mail Options Dialog Box
However, disabling this option will not prevent the Reviewing toolbar from
surfacing. Although it will prevent the Reviewing toolbar from surfacing on
documents you email to others.
After writing Do you want to Merge Changes, I received several email
requests for the steps one can take to prevent the Reviewing toolbar from
surfacing and there is hope!
Workaround
A simple macro placed in your Normal.dot will disable the Reviewing toolbar
and prevent it from surfacing regardless of the AdHoc Review properties stored
in the document (See How to Utilize the Macros
if you do not know what to do with the macros provided in this article):
Sub AutoExec()
With CommandBars("Reviewing")
.Enabled = False
.Visible = False
End With
End Sub
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An AutoExec macro will run each time Word starts. This is necessary since
Word will not retain the disabled state of the Reviewing toolbar between sessions.
A drawback to using this method is you will not be able to manually turn
on the Reviewing toolbar should you actually need to use it.
However a second macro can be used to re-enable the toolbar:
Sub EnableReviewingToolbar()
With CommandBars("Reviewing")
.Enabled = True
.Visible = True
End With
End Sub
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Both of these macros can be easily added to a Toolbar or assigned a keyboard shortcut. For those
who do not want the Reviewing toolbar to be disabled each time Word starts
then change the name of the AutoExec macro to DisableReviewingToolbar.
How To Utilize the Macros
1)
Copy the lines of code between Sub AutoExec ()
and End Sub from this article
2)
In Microsoft Word click the Tools menu
3)
Point to the Macros command
4)
Click Macro from the sub menu
5)
Type AutoExec in the Macro Name text box
6)
Click the Create command
7)
Place the previously copied code between the Sub and End Sub
8)
Close the Visual Basic Editor and return to Word
9)
If prompted to save changes to Normal.dot upon exiting Word
select Yes
Repeat Steps 1 through 8 for the second macro but name the macro EnableReviewingToolbar
How to Add a Macro to a Toolbar
1)
Click Tools in the menu bar
2)
Select Customize…
3)
In the Categories list on the left, scroll down and
select Macros
4)
In the Commands list on the right locate the macro (the name
may read something like: Normal.NewMacros.EnableReviewingToolbar)
5)
Click and hold on the macro and drag/drop it on a toolbar and
location of your choice
6)
Close the Customize dialog box
7)
If prompted to save changes to Normal.dot upon exiting Word
select Yes
How to Modify the Appearance of a Toolbar Item
1)
Make sure the Customize dialog box is open
2)
Right-click the command you wish to customize:
·
Select Default Style to display an icon only
·
Use the Change Button Image menu to change the icon
·
Use the Edit Button Image command to modify the icon
3)
Close the Customize dialog box
4)
If prompted to save changes to Normal.dot upon exiting Word
select Yes
How to Assign a Keyboard
Shortcut to a Macro
1)
Click Tools in the menu bar
2)
Select Customize…
3)
Click the Keyboard… command at the bottom
4)
In the Categories list on the left select the Macro
category
5)
Select the name of the macro on the left
6)
Place your cursor in the Press new shortcut key text
box
7)
Press the keys you wish to use for the shortcut (for example
press Ctrl + Alt + R )
8)
Click Assign
9)
Close the dialog boxes
10)
If prompted to save changes to Normal.dot upon exiting Word
select Yes
Conclusion
Unfortunately the only other alternative to using macros to control the Reviewing
toolbar is to ask everyone who sends you file attachments using Outlook 2002
to turn off the Automatic Review option. But on the bright side, thankfully
Microsoft heard our cries and turned the Automatic Review option off by default
in Outlook 2003.
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