It is no secret that the Ribbon received mixed reviews when it debuted in Office 2007. No longer present were the familiar toolbars and drop down menus that served as the main navigation method for most Windows applications.

Microsoft’s move to the Ribbon navigation system was bold for two reasons. First, it introduced a brand new way of using some of the most popular applications in the world. Second, the software giant gave users no way to revert to the old toolbar/drop down menu scheme and no way to customize the Ribbon to suit the needs of the user. You were stuck with the layout and location of the Ribbon whether you liked it or not.
Ribbon Customization

Customizing the Ribbon is not possible in Office 2007. In fact, the only user customizable part of an application in the suite is the Quick Access Toolbar located near the Office Jewel in the upper left hand corner of Word, Excel, Access, and the rest.

However, there is one way you can customize how the Ribbon behaves. You can choose to hide or minimize the Ribbon automatically or manually to give you more space to use an Office 2007 application without the navigation element of the program getting in the way.

This offers some significant advantages over running an application in full screen mode. For those who do a lot of editing in Word and Excel, minimizing the Ribbon can increase productivity because you can see more of the application at one time.
Full Screen Mode vs. Minimizing the Ribbon

Full screen mode does share many of the advantages of minimizing the Ribbon in Office 2007 with one distinct difference. Full screen mode hides the Ribbon and the Office Jewel maximizing the amount of screen real estate dedicated to the application.

However, to access the functions and buttons on the Ribbon, you must exit full screen mode, use the functions you need on the Ribbon, and then re-enter full screen mode. Minimizing the Ribbon either automatically or manually allows you to maximize the amount of the screen dedicated to the Office 2007 application while still retaining access to the Ribbon.

To access the Ribbon’s functions, simply click on a tab and the Ribbon will temporarily expand to reveal all of its buttons. When finished, the Office 2007 application will minimize the Ribbon again.
Automatically and Manually Minimize the Ribbon

To have Office 2007 applications automatically minimize the Ribbon for you, right click on the Ribbon and choose the Minimize the Ribbon option.

You can also use a shortcut key combination to manually minimize and un-minimize the Ribbon whenever you need to. To manually minimize the Ribbon in any Office 2007 application, hold down the Ctrl key on your keyboard and press the F1 key. This is a quicker method of switching back and forth between a minimized and a maximized Ribbon.

Although full screen mode maximizes the amount of your monitor’s screen that is dedicated to the application, it is necessary to exit this mode before you can access the Ribbon.

By choosing the minimize the Ribbon, you can experience the best of both worlds by maximizing the space dedicated to an Office 2007 application while still retaining access to the Ribbon’s functions and buttons.