Office Button in Excel

MS Excel is one of the most popular spreadsheet software programs included with the Microsoft Office suite. However, Office suite also has some other popular products, such as Word, PowerPoint, etc. To make all these software user-friendly and effectively similar in the interface, Microsoft tries to make the UI quite similar for all its products, allowing users to find commands and tools easily. One such common option in all Office 2007 product interfaces, including Excel, is the Office button.

This article discusses the Office button in Excel (also called the Microsoft Office button). The article also elaborates all the options found inside the office button along with their functions.

What is an Office Button in Excel?

The Office Button was an experimental feature of the Microsoft Office suite 2007. All Office 2007 products (such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.) have a common button inside the active window, named Office Button. Since it is also present in Excel thus, we call it Office Button in Excel while working with Excel or referring to the button concerning MS Excel.

The Office button found in MS Excel 2007 and other Office 2007 products looks like this:

Note: It is very important to note that the Office button is only available in Office 2007 products. This means that the Office button is only present in Excel 2007. Later, the Office button was deprecated in Office 2010 and has since been no longer available in Excel 2010 and later. However, the options present in the Office button have been provided under the File tab.

Where is Office Button found in Excel?

When we open Excel 2007 program, we see an Office Button on the top-left corner of the Excel window. The button is attached to a ribbon and is identified by a circle containing an Office logo inside it.

The office button situated on the top-left corner in MS Excel 2007 looks like this:

What is the primary function of the MS Excel Office Button?

The primary function of the Office button in Excel and other Office 2007 products was to help users perform frequently used actions immediately using the shortcuts. The office button provides many useful options and helps us open, save, print any workbook with ease. Furthermore, we can easily access the Excel options and configure them instantly as per our choice directly from the Office button.

Excel Office Button Menu Options

When we click the Office Button in Excel, we get the following menu options:

New

The ‘New‘ option in the Office button menu primarily displays the ‘New Workbook’ dialog box where we can select to either create a blank workbook/spreadsheet or use any of the existing templates by Microsoft.

Open

The ‘Open‘ option in the Office button menu displays the ‘Open’ dialog box using which we can choose and open any specific excel file from our computer.

Save

The ‘Save‘ option in the Office button menu helps us save the changes to an active workbook. This option typically saves temporary data to the current file for future use, even after the corresponding file is closed. Besides, if the ‘Save’ option is used the first time in a newly created spreadsheet, it will launch the ‘Save As’ dialogue box, which is the next option in the menu list.

Save As

The ‘Save As‘ option in the Office menu displays the ‘Save As’ dialog box, which helps us to save the copy of an active file in the desired file format and with the desired file name at the desired location.

We further get some options when moving the mouse cursor onto the ‘Save As’ option or click the option. They are:

• Excel Workbook: If we click on this option, we get a ‘Save As’ dialog box, with the default file type selected as ‘Excel Workbook (.xlsx)’. This file type can contain all the typical spreadsheet objects except macro and is suitable to import to other relevant spreadsheet software.
• Excel Macro-Enabled Workbook: If we click on this option, we get a ‘Save As’ dialog box, with the default file type selected as ‘Excel Macro-Enabled Workbook (.xlsm)’. This file type can contain macro.
• Excel Binary Workbook: If we click on this option, we get a ‘Save As’ dialog box, with the default file type selected as ‘Excel Binary Workbook (.xlsb)’. This file type can handle vast amounts of data with macros but is not suitable for importing other relevant spreadsheet software.
• Excel 97-2003 Workbook: If we click on this option, we get a ‘Save As’ dialog box, with the default file type selected as ‘Excel 97-2003 Workbook (.xls)’. This file type is similar to the Excel workbook (.xlsx), but it is suitable for old versions of Excel, such as Excel 2003 and earlier.
• Find add-ins for other file formats: If we click on this option, we get some extensions to include support for other file formats that are not provided within Excel.

It mainly involves the most common spreadsheet file formats to help us save an active workbook instantly. However, we can select the ‘Other Formats‘ to display the ‘Save As’ dialogue box or get a list of all the supported formats.

Print

The ‘Print‘ option in the Office menu helps us take a hard copy of the current spreadsheet on paper with the help of a connected printer. Additionally, we can also save a copy of an active document to a portable document format (PDF).

We further get some options when moving the mouse cursor onto the ‘Print’ option or click the option. They are:

• Print: If we click on this option, we get a ‘Print’ dialog box to adjust some common parameters for printing. For example, the number of print copies, default printer, page orientations, etc.
• Quick Print: If we click on this option, Excel directly commands the system to print an active sheet using the most recently used settings or the default settings.
• Print Preview: If we click on this option, Excel displays the print preview window where we can see a digital view of the document that will be printed on paper.

Prepare

The ‘Prepare‘ option in the Office menu helps us to prepare the current spreadsheet for distribution. That means we can view or modify the properties of the spreadsheet as per our choice. Additionally, we can inspect the hidden metadata and other personal information of an active workbook using this option.

We further get some options when moving the mouse cursor onto the ‘Prepare’ option or click the option. They are:

• Properties: If we click on this option, Excel displays us properties window to view or configure parameters (such as Workbook title, Author name, Keywords, etc.) for the spreadsheet. This option is strictly related only to the properties of the workbook, not to Excel.
• Inspect Document: If we click on this option, Excel displays us ‘Document Inspector’ dialogue box. This option mainly helps us inspect (find) and remove hidden data or any personal information from the current workbook.
• Encrypt Document: If we click on this option, Excel displays us ‘Encrypt Document’ dialogue box to configure a password to make our worksheet secure from unauthorized or unwanted people.
• Add a Digital Signature: If we click on this option, Excel shows us a ‘Sign’ dialog box. This option mainly helps us to insert a sign to claim ownership of the spreadsheet digitally.
• Mark as Final: If we click on this option, Excel marks the active workbook as final and saves it accordingly. This option is mainly used when there are no further changes or modifications required in a spreadsheet. In particular, the option makes the spreadsheet read-only and non-editable.
• Run Compatibility Checker: If we click on this option, Excel shows us a ‘Compatibility Checker’ dialog box. Using this option, we can use the older version of the Excel workbook in newer versions or vice versa to prevent permanent data loss or incorrect functionalities.

Send

The ‘Send‘ option in the Office menu helps us to share the current spreadsheet document with others directly through the Excel program. We don’t need to save it and then send it to others. Excel provides a variety of sharing options under the ‘Send’ command. The option was later renamed as ‘Save and Send’ in Office 2010.

We further get some options when moving the mouse cursor onto the ‘Send’ option or click the option. They are:

• Email: If we click on this option, Excel shows us an ‘Email’ dialogue box where we can choose to send a copy of the current spreadsheet as an email attachment over the web. Excel typically provides two options to attach an active workbook into an email. We can either attach the current document as PDF or XPS.
• Internet Fax: If we click on this option, Excel enables us to use an Internet fax service and fax the spreadsheet as desired. However, this feature is not useful anymore.

Publish

The ‘Publish‘ option in the Office menu enables us to distribute the current spreadsheet with people on the network. Additionally, we can also create a blog article using the spreadsheet’s content and share it accordingly.

We further get some options when moving the mouse cursor onto the ‘Publish’ option or click the option. They are:

• Document Management Server: If we click on this option, we get a ‘Save As’ dialog box, with the default location of ‘My Network Places’ to save a corresponding spreadsheet.
• Create Document Workspace: If we click on this option, Excel launches the Document Management task pane to create a site for the spreadsheet and synchronize a copy of it across the system.

Close

The ‘Close‘ option in the Office button menu helps us close the current spreadsheet or workbook opened in Excel.

Excel Options

The ‘Excel Options‘ button in the Office button menu helps us configure or modify the settings/ preferences of the MS Excel program. By using this, we can customize the entire Excel accordingly.

Exit Excel

The ‘Exit Excel‘ button in the Office Button menu helps us to exit the Excel program. This means that we can close all open spreadsheets/ workbooks, including Excel itself, at once.