Using Large Toolbar Buttons

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 3, 2024)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


Let's face it—for those of us getting to the bifocal age, the toolbar buttons are sometimes a bit too small. In fact, it is sometimes downright impossible to tell exactly what that is on an icon! (Is that a chain link or a sausage beneath that ball?) This problem seems particularly acute when working with a monitor set to a high resolution.

Fortunately, you can make the toolbars appear a bit larger. Just follow these steps:

  1. Choose the Customize option from the Tools menu. Word displays the Customize dialog box.
  2. Click on the Options tab. (See Figure 1.)
  3. Figure 1. The Options tab of the Customize dialog box.

  4. Make sure the Large Icons option is selected.
  5. Click on Close.

Notice how the toolbar buttons now seem huge—but you can at least see them! This change doesn't affect just Word, but any Microsoft Office program you have installed on your system.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1881) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Exfoliation

Exfoliation—the removal of dead cells from the topmost layer of your skin—is all the rage at spas and ...

Discover More

Summing Only Positive Values

If you have a series of values and you want to get a total of just the values that meet a specific criteria, then you ...

Discover More

Self-Adjusting Column Widths

It is important to understand how column widths relate to the margins you may have set in your document. The reason is ...

Discover More

Learning Made Easy! Quickly teach yourself how to format, publish, and share your content using Word 2021 or Microsoft 365. With Step by Step, you set the pace, building and practicing the skills you need, just when you need them! Check out Microsoft Word Step by Step today!

More WordTips (menu)

Getting Rid of Custom Toolbars

If you start Word and get a bunch of unwanted toolbars displayed on the screen, you can be scratching your head (or ...

Discover More

Quickly Removing a Toolbar Button

Need to remove a toolbar button, but don't want to go through the hassle of displaying the Configure dialog box? You can ...

Discover More

Displaying the Outlining Toolbar by Default

The Outlining toolbar contains tools that are helpful to use, even if you aren't working on your document's outline. This ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is six more than 7?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Videos
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.