How to add a custom Ribbon tab using VBA?

Question

I am looking for a way to add a custom tab in the Excel ribbon which would carry a few buttons. I chanced on some resources addressing it via Google but all look dodgy and o

Answer 1

The answers on here are specific to using the custom UI Editor. I spent some time creating the interface without that wonderful program, so I am documenting the solution here to help anyone else decide if they need that custom UI editor or not.

I came across the following microsoft help webpage - https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/ff861787.aspx. This shows how to set up the interface manually, but I had some trouble when pointing to my custom add-in code.

To get the buttons to work with your custom macros, setup the macro in your .xlam subs to be called as described in this SO answer - Calling an excel macro from the ribbon. Basically, you'll need to add that "control As IRibbonControl" paramter to any module pointed from your ribbon xml. Also, your ribbon xml should have the onAction="myaddin!mymodule.mysub" syntax to properly call any modules loaded by the add in.

Using those instructions I was able to create an excel add in (.xlam file) that has a custom tab loaded when my VBA gets loaded into Excel along with the add in. The buttons execute code from the add in and the custom tab uninstalls when I remove the add in.

Answer 2

I was able to accomplish this with VBA in Excel 2013. No special editors needed. All you need is the Visual Basic code editor which can be accessed on the Developer tab. The Developer tab is not visible by default so it needs to be enabled in File>Options>Customize Ribbon. On the Developer tab, click the Visual Basic button. The code editor will launch. Right click in the Project Explorer pane on the left. Click the insert menu and choose module. Add both subs below to the new module.

Sub LoadCustRibbon()

Dim hFile As Long
Dim path As String, fileName As String, ribbonXML As String, user As String

hFile = FreeFile
user = Environ("Username")
path = "C:\Users\" & user & "\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office\"
fileName = "Excel.officeUI"

ribbonXML = "<mso:customUI      xmlns:mso='http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2009/07/customui'>" & vbNewLine
ribbonXML = ribbonXML + "  <mso:ribbon>" & vbNewLine
ribbonXML = ribbonXML + "    <mso:qat/>" & vbNewLine
ribbonXML = ribbonXML + "    <mso:tabs>" & vbNewLine
ribbonXML = ribbonXML + "      <mso:tab id='reportTab' label='Reports' insertBeforeQ='mso:TabFormat'>" & vbNewLine
ribbonXML = ribbonXML + "        <mso:group id='reportGroup' label='Reports' autoScale='true'>" & vbNewLine
ribbonXML = ribbonXML + "          <mso:button id='runReport' label='PTO' "   & vbNewLine
ribbonXML = ribbonXML + "imageMso='AppointmentColor3'      onAction='GenReport'/>" & vbNewLine
ribbonXML = ribbonXML + "        </mso:group>" & vbNewLine
ribbonXML = ribbonXML + "      </mso:tab>" & vbNewLine
ribbonXML = ribbonXML + "    </mso:tabs>" & vbNewLine
ribbonXML = ribbonXML + "  </mso:ribbon>" & vbNewLine
ribbonXML = ribbonXML + "</mso:customUI>"

ribbonXML = Replace(ribbonXML, """", "")

Open path & fileName For Output Access Write As hFile
Print #hFile, ribbonXML
Close hFile

End Sub

Sub ClearCustRibbon()

Dim hFile As Long
Dim path As String, fileName As String, ribbonXML As String, user As String

hFile = FreeFile
user = Environ("Username")
path = "C:\Users\" & user & "\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office\"
fileName = "Excel.officeUI"

ribbonXML = "<mso:customUI           xmlns:mso=""http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2009/07/customui"">" & _
"<mso:ribbon></mso:ribbon></mso:customUI>"

Open path & fileName For Output Access Write As hFile
Print #hFile, ribbonXML
Close hFile

End Sub

Call LoadCustRibbon sub in the Wookbook open even and call the ClearCustRibbon sub in the Before_Close Event of the ThisWorkbook code file.

Answer 3

I encountered difficulties with Roi-Kyi Bryant's solution when multiple add-ins tried to modify the ribbon. I also don't have admin access on my work-computer, which ruled out installing the Custom UI Editor. So, if you're in the same boat as me, here's an alternative example to customising the ribbon using only Excel. Note, my solution is derived from the Microsoft guide.

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1. Create Excel file/files whose ribbons you want to customise. In my case, I've created two .xlam files, Chart Tools.xlam and Priveleged UDFs.xlam, to demonstrate how multiple add-ins can interact with the Ribbon.
2. Create a folder, with any folder name, for each file you just created.
3. Inside each of the folders you've created, add a customUI and _rels folder.
4. Inside each customUI folder, create a customUI.xml file. The customUI.xml file details how Excel files interact with the ribbon. Part 2 of the Microsoft guide covers the elements in the customUI.xml file.

My customUI.xml file for Chart Tools.xlam looks like this

<customUI xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2006/01/customui" xmlns:x="sao">
  <ribbon>
    <tabs>
      <tab idQ="x:chartToolsTab" label="Chart Tools">
        <group id="relativeChartMovementGroup" label="Relative Chart Movement" >
            <button id="moveChartWithRelativeLinksButton" label="Copy and Move" imageMso="ResultsPaneStartFindAndReplace" onAction="MoveChartWithRelativeLinksCallBack" visible="true" size="normal"/>
            <button id="moveChartToManySheetsWithRelativeLinksButton" label="Copy and Distribute" imageMso="OutlineDemoteToBodyText" onAction="MoveChartToManySheetsWithRelativeLinksCallBack" visible="true" size="normal"/>
        </group >
        <group id="chartDeletionGroup" label="Chart Deletion">
            <button id="deleteAllChartsInWorkbookSharingAnAddressButton" label="Delete Charts" imageMso="CancelRequest" onAction="DeleteAllChartsInWorkbookSharingAnAddressCallBack" visible="true" size="normal"/>
        </group>
      </tab>
    </tabs>
  </ribbon>
</customUI>

My customUI.xml file for Priveleged UDFs.xlam looks like this

<customUI xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2006/01/customui" xmlns:x="sao">
  <ribbon>
    <tabs>
      <tab idQ="x:privelgedUDFsTab" label="Privelged UDFs">
        <group id="privelgedUDFsGroup" label="Toggle" >
            <button id="initialisePrivelegedUDFsButton" label="Activate" imageMso="TagMarkComplete" onAction="InitialisePrivelegedUDFsCallBack" visible="true" size="normal"/>
            <button id="deInitialisePrivelegedUDFsButton" label="De-Activate" imageMso="CancelRequest" onAction="DeInitialisePrivelegedUDFsCallBack" visible="true" size="normal"/>
        </group >
      </tab>
    </tabs>
  </ribbon>
</customUI>

5. For each file you created in Step 1, suffix a .zip to their file name. In my case, I renamed Chart Tools.xlam to Chart Tools.xlam.zip, and Privelged UDFs.xlam to Priveleged UDFs.xlam.zip.
6. Open each .zip file, and navigate to the _rels folder. Copy the .rels file to the _rels folder you created in Step 3. Edit each .rels file with a text editor. From the Microsoft guide

Between the final <Relationship> element and the closing <Relationships> element, add a line that creates a relationship between the document file and the customization file. Ensure that you specify the folder and file names correctly.

<Relationship Type="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2006/
  relationships/ui/extensibility" Target="/customUI/customUI.xml" 
  Id="customUIRelID" />

My .rels file for Chart Tools.xlam looks like this

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
    <Relationships xmlns="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/package/2006/relationships">
        <Relationship Id="rId3" Type="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships/extended-properties" Target="docProps/app.xml"/><Relationship Id="rId2" Type="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/package/2006/relationships/metadata/core-properties" Target="docProps/core.xml"/>
        <Relationship Id="rId1" Type="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships/officeDocument" Target="xl/workbook.xml"/>
        <Relationship Type="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2006/relationships/ui/extensibility" Target="/customUI/customUI.xml" Id="chartToolsCustomUIRel" />
    </Relationships>

My .rels file for Priveleged UDFs looks like this.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
    <Relationships xmlns="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/package/2006/relationships">
        <Relationship Id="rId3" Type="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships/extended-properties" Target="docProps/app.xml"/><Relationship Id="rId2" Type="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/package/2006/relationships/metadata/core-properties" Target="docProps/core.xml"/>
        <Relationship Id="rId1" Type="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships/officeDocument" Target="xl/workbook.xml"/>
        <Relationship Type="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2006/relationships/ui/extensibility" Target="/customUI/customUI.xml" Id="privelegedUDFsCustomUIRel" />
    </Relationships>

7. Replace the .rels files in each .zip file with the .rels file/files you modified in the previous step.
8. Copy and paste the .customUI folder you created into the home directory of the .zip file/files.
9. Remove the .zip file extension from the Excel files you created.
10. If you've created .xlam files, back in Excel, add them to your Excel add-ins.
11. If applicable, create callbacks in each of your add-ins. In Step 4, there are onAction keywords in my buttons. The onAction keyword indicates that, when the containing element is triggered, the Excel application will trigger the sub-routine encased in quotation marks directly after the onAction keyword. This is known as a callback. In my .xlam files, I have a module called CallBacks where I've included my callback sub-routines.

My CallBacks module for Chart Tools.xlam looks like

Option Explicit

Public Sub MoveChartWithRelativeLinksCallBack(ByRef control As IRibbonControl)
  MoveChartWithRelativeLinks
End Sub

Public Sub MoveChartToManySheetsWithRelativeLinksCallBack(ByRef control As IRibbonControl)
  MoveChartToManySheetsWithRelativeLinks
End Sub

Public Sub DeleteAllChartsInWorkbookSharingAnAddressCallBack(ByRef control As IRibbonControl)
  DeleteAllChartsInWorkbookSharingAnAddress
End Sub

My CallBacks module for Priveleged UDFs.xlam looks like

Option Explicit

Public Sub InitialisePrivelegedUDFsCallBack(ByRef control As IRibbonControl)
  ThisWorkbook.InitialisePrivelegedUDFs
End Sub

Public Sub DeInitialisePrivelegedUDFsCallBack(ByRef control As IRibbonControl)
  ThisWorkbook.DeInitialisePrivelegedUDFs
End Sub

Different elements have a different callback sub-routine signature. For buttons, the required sub-routine parameter is ByRef control As IRibbonControl. If you don't conform to the required callback signature, you will receive an error while compiling your VBA project/projects. Part 3 of the Microsoft guide defines all the callback signatures.

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Here's what my finished example looks like

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Some closing tips

1. If you want add-ins to share Ribbon elements, use the idQ and xlmns: keyword. In my example, the Chart Tools.xlam and Priveleged UDFs.xlam both have access to the elements with idQ's equal to x:chartToolsTab and x:privelgedUDFsTab. For this to work, the x: is required, and, I've defined its namespace in the first line of my customUI.xml file, <customUI xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2006/01/customui" xmlns:x="sao">. The section Two Ways to Customize the Fluent UI in the Microsoft guide gives some more details.
2. If you want add-ins to access Ribbon elements shipped with Excel, use the isMSO keyword. The section Two Ways to Customize the Fluent UI in the Microsoft guide gives some more details.

Answer 4

In addition to Roi-Kyi Bryant answer, this code fully works in Excel 2010. Press ALT + F11 and VBA editor will pop up. Double click on ThisWorkbook on the left side, then paste this code:

Private Sub Workbook_Activate()

Dim hFile As Long
Dim path As String, fileName As String, ribbonXML As String, user As String

hFile = FreeFile
user = Environ("Username")
path = "C:\Users\" & user & "\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office\"
fileName = "Excel.officeUI"

ribbonXML = "<mso:customUI      xmlns:mso='http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2009/07/customui'>" & vbNewLine
ribbonXML = ribbonXML + "  <mso:ribbon>" & vbNewLine
ribbonXML = ribbonXML + "    <mso:qat/>" & vbNewLine
ribbonXML = ribbonXML + "    <mso:tabs>" & vbNewLine
ribbonXML = ribbonXML + "      <mso:tab id='reportTab' label='My Actions' insertBeforeQ='mso:TabFormat'>" & vbNewLine
ribbonXML = ribbonXML + "        <mso:group id='reportGroup' label='Reports' autoScale='true'>" & vbNewLine
ribbonXML = ribbonXML + "          <mso:button id='runReport' label='Trim' " & vbNewLine
ribbonXML = ribbonXML + "imageMso='AppointmentColor3'      onAction='TrimSelection'/>" & vbNewLine
ribbonXML = ribbonXML + "        </mso:group>" & vbNewLine
ribbonXML = ribbonXML + "      </mso:tab>" & vbNewLine
ribbonXML = ribbonXML + "    </mso:tabs>" & vbNewLine
ribbonXML = ribbonXML + "  </mso:ribbon>" & vbNewLine
ribbonXML = ribbonXML + "</mso:customUI>"

ribbonXML = Replace(ribbonXML, """", "")

Open path & fileName For Output Access Write As hFile
Print #hFile, ribbonXML
Close hFile

End Sub

Private Sub Workbook_Deactivate()

Dim hFile As Long
Dim path As String, fileName As String, ribbonXML As String, user As String

hFile = FreeFile
user = Environ("Username")
path = "C:\Users\" & user & "\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office\"
fileName = "Excel.officeUI"

ribbonXML = "<mso:customUI           xmlns:mso=""http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2009/07/customui"">" & _
"<mso:ribbon></mso:ribbon></mso:customUI>"

Open path & fileName For Output Access Write As hFile
Print #hFile, ribbonXML
Close hFile

End Sub

Don't forget to save and re-open workbook. Hope this helps!

Answer 5

I struggled like mad, but this is actually the right answer. For what it is worth, what I missed was is this:

1. As others say, one can't create the CustomUI ribbon with VBA, however, you don't need to!
2. The idea is you create your xml Ribbon code using Excel's File > Options > Customize Ribbon, and then export the Ribbon to a .customUI file (it's just a txt file, with xml in it)
3. Now comes the trick: you can include the .customUI code in your .xlsm file using the MS tool they refer to here, by copying the code from the .customUI file
4. Once it is included in the .xlsm file, every time you open it, the ribbon you defined is added to the user's ribbon - but do use < ribbon startFromScratch="false" > or you lose the rest of the ribbon. On exit-ing the workbook, the ribbon is removed.
5. From here on it is simple, create your ribbon, copy the xml code that is specific to your ribbon from the .customUI file, and place it in a wrapper as shown above (...< tabs> your xml < /tabs...)

By the way the page that explains it on Ron's site is now at http://www.rondebruin.nl/win/s2/win002.htm

And here is his example on how you enable /disable buttons on the Ribbon http://www.rondebruin.nl/win/s2/win013.htm

For other xml examples of ribbons please also see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/aa338202%28v=office.12%29.aspx

Answer 6

Another approach to this would be to download Jan Karel Pieterse's free Open XML class module from this page: Editing elements in an OpenXML file using VBA

With this added to your VBA project, you can unzip the Excel file, use VBA to modify the XML, then use the class to rezip the files.