I use a lot of symbols when I am using Word and it would be really helpful if
the ones I used the most were shown as buttons in a toolbar - like the
drawing toolbar has the draw a square or a circle option. It is time
consuming to open up the symbol box every time I want to add one - and
leaving it open while I type drastically reduces the available screen to view
my document. Does anybody know of a way to do this or a piece of freeware I
could download to allow me to do this?

You could add symbols to a toolbar, but a much more efficient approach is to
assign keyboard shortcuts to frequently used symbols. You can do this
through the Symbol dialog (select the symbol and then click Shortcut
Key...), and many of the symbols already have built-in shortcut keys.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"Nix" wrote in message
...
I use a lot of symbols when I am using Word and it would be really helpful
if
the ones I used the most were shown as buttons in a toolbar - like the
drawing toolbar has the draw a square or a circle option. It is time
consuming to open up the symbol box every time I want to add one - and
leaving it open while I type drastically reduces the available screen to
view
my document. Does anybody know of a way to do this or a piece of freeware
I
could download to allow me to do this?

I cannot remember all the shortcut keys I need, so could you tell me how to
put certain symbols on a toolbar please?

Nicole

"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

You could add symbols to a toolbar, but a much more efficient approach is to
assign keyboard shortcuts to frequently used symbols. You can do this
through the Symbol dialog (select the symbol and then click Shortcut
Key...), and many of the symbols already have built-in shortcut keys.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"Nix" wrote in message
...
I use a lot of symbols when I am using Word and it would be really helpful
if
the ones I used the most were shown as buttons in a toolbar - like the
drawing toolbar has the draw a square or a circle option. It is time
consuming to open up the symbol box every time I want to add one - and
leaving it open while I type drastically reduces the available screen to
view
my document. Does anybody know of a way to do this or a piece of freeware
I
could download to allow me to do this?

1. Open Tools | Customize.

2. On the Commands tab, scroll down to the Common Symbols category and
scroll through the symbols offered.

3. If you find your desired symbol there, drag it to a toolbar (you may want
to create a new custom toolbar for the purpose; do this on the Toolbars
tab).

4. If you don't find what you want, then the next-easiest approach is to
create an AutoText entry. Use Insert | Symbol to insert the symbol in your
document, select it, press Alt+F3, and give it a name. Then, in Tools |
Customize, select the entry from the AutoText category and drag it to a
toolbar. By default, the button will have a text label; if you want an icon,
you'll probably have to design it yourself using the Button Image Editor.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"Nix" wrote in message
...
I cannot remember all the shortcut keys I need, so could you tell me how
to
put certain symbols on a toolbar please?

Nicole

"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

You could add symbols to a toolbar, but a much more efficient approach
is to
assign keyboard shortcuts to frequently used symbols. You can do this
through the Symbol dialog (select the symbol and then click Shortcut
Key...), and many of the symbols already have built-in shortcut keys.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"Nix" wrote in message
...
I use a lot of symbols when I am using Word and it would be really
helpful
if
the ones I used the most were shown as buttons in a toolbar - like the
drawing toolbar has the draw a square or a circle option. It is time
consuming to open up the symbol box every time I want to add one - and
leaving it open while I type drastically reduces the available screen
to
view
my document. Does anybody know of a way to do this or a piece of
freeware
I
could download to allow me to do this?