Is there a way in Excel 2013 to specify a key or key combination (A keytip!) to be used to in conjunction with 'Alt' to select a ribbon tab in excel?

Question

I have a workbook in use by a number of users. For various reasons, some have more tabs in the ribbon when they open up my workbook than others, and when the workbook is opened and a user presses Alt, the corresponding key press associated with my custom ribbon tab will not always be the same.

Can I, for example, edit my XLSM file's XML so that the key pressed in conjunction with Alt will always be the same? I would like a solution that will work in excel 2013 (although it would be a bonus if it also worked in 2010 and/or 2007)

I have not been very successful in my search for a solution BUT eventually found HALF an answer. Apparently you add keytip="Z" or whatever in the customUI xml.

<customUI xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2006/01/customui">
  <ribbon startFromScratch="false">
    <tabs>
      <tab id="MyCustomRibbonTab" label="TEAM" keytip="Z">         
      </tab>
    </tabs>
  </ribbon>
</customUI>

I was then able to find this (How to set keytip on a ribbon?) retrospectively once I knew the correct terminology.

Trouble is it doesn't appear to work in 2013.

The standard way to do this is to precede the letter you want to be *hot* with an ampersand, as in `For&mula`, which would make Alt+M activate the Formula tab. — Ken White, Oct 07 '16 at 13:29
@KenWhite this seems to work in 2007, but it still doesn't appear as expected in 2013 unless I'm making a mistake... (I can't test 2010 at the moment) — Brent Hackers, Oct 07 '16 at 13:35
Yeah, I don't have 2013 on this machine. I can't test it either, which is why I left a comment and not an answer. — Ken White, Oct 07 '16 at 13:44
Thanks @KenWhite. I think it must have been the particular key combinations that I'd tried because after changing the keytip to "la" instead of "LA" or "Z" it works! — Brent Hackers, Oct 07 '16 at 13:53

score 1 · Accepted Answer · edited Mar 17 '17 at 13:33

It turn's out that certain keys or key combinations just weren't going to work for me (I think). I have no idea why and if anyone can provide a better explanation detailing what works/doesn't and why I'll mark it correct, BUT in the mean time, I got this to work by changing the keytip to la rather than Z or LA. I'd be interested to know if this is just me...

<customUI xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2006/01/customui">
  <ribbon startFromScratch="false">
    <tabs>
      <tab id="MyCustomRibbonTab" label="TEAM" keytip="la">         
      </tab>
    </tabs>
  </ribbon>
</customUI>

Is there a way in Excel 2013 to specify a key or key combination (A keytip!) to be used to in conjunction with 'Alt' to select a ribbon tab in excel?

1 Answers1