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

Renaming Worksheets Based On a List

Renaming a worksheet within a macro is a relatively easy task. When you start renaming based on a range of names, though, ...

Discover More

Changing Your Company Name

The installation process for Office and Excel allows you to specify a company name. If your company name later changes, ...

Discover More

Embedding TrueType Fonts

If you need to make sure that the fonts in your document can be used by another person or on a different system, you'll ...

Discover More

The First and Last Word on Word! Bestselling For Dummies author Dan Gookin puts his usual fun and friendly candor back to work to show you how to navigate Word 2019. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2019 For Dummies today!

More WordTips (menu)

Changing Toolbar Location

If you don't like where your toolbars are located, just move them around.

Discover More

Finding a Missing Toolbar

A few methods for finding an errant toolbar in Word.

Discover More

Renaming a Toolbar

Word allows you to create custom toolbars that can speed how you work with various tools and macros. When you first ...

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 four less 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.