How to reduce ribbon size in Excel

Excel 2016
After recent updates, the ribbon in Microsoft Excel can take up to 1/3 of the available screen space. Microsoft Office help tells that you can hide or unhide your ribbon, but you cannot reduce the size of your ribbon or the size of the text or the icons. False! You can change the mode, remove unnecessary white space around buttons and, thus, reduce the ribbon size.

The Ribbon display in Touch Mode:

The Ribbon display in Touch Mode in Excel 365

The Ribbon display in Mouse Mode (the habitual look of the previous versions of Microsoft Excel):

The Ribbon display in Mouse Mode in Excel 365

To change the Ribbon mode, click on the dropdown arrow on the right side of the Quick Access Toolbar and choose the Touch/Mouse Mode command:

Touch/Mouse Mode command in Excel 365

The Touch/Mouse Mode button was added to your Quick Access Toolbar menu (see more Adding commands to the Quick Access Toolbar):

Touch/Mouse Mode command in Excel 365

By choosing a specific option, you can change the Ribbon mode according to your needs.

Note: This option works for all Microsoft Office applications at once. If you change the mode in Excel, it changes in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook.

See also this tip in French: Comment réduire la taille du ruban dans Excel.

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How to reduce ribbon size in Excel

How to reduce ribbon size in Excel

After recent updates, the ribbon in Microsoft Excel can take up to 1/3 of the available screen space. Microsoft Office help tells that you can hide or unhide your ribbon, but you cannot reduce the size of your ribbon or the size of the text or the icons. False! You can change the mode, remove unnecessary white space around buttons and, thus, reduce the ribbon size.
How to reduce ribbon size in Excel

How to reduce ribbon size in Excel

After recent updates, the ribbon in Microsoft Excel can take up to 1/3 of the available screen space. Microsoft Office help tells that you can hide or unhide your ribbon, but you cannot reduce the size of your ribbon, or size of the text or the icons. False! You can change the mode and remove unnecessary white space around buttons, and, thus, reduce the ribbon size.
The compatibility mode in Excel

The compatibility mode in Excel

If you open a workbook created in an older version of Microsoft Excel, you may see Compatibility Mode near the filename in the title bar: