If you don't want the complexity that's involved in rethinking the ribbon, customizing the Quick Access toolbar makes perfect sense. But if you are hungering to make some more radical changes, and you think you could become more productive with a ribbon that's tailored to the tasks you perform most often, then ribbon customization is the best choice.

Ribbon customization takes place in the same Excel Options window you used to change the Quick Access toolbar. The easiest way to get to there is to right-click the ribbon, and then choose Customize Ribbon. Excel opens the Excel Options window and sends you straight to the Customize Ribbon section (Figure A-5).