Reordering and Removing Ribbon Tabs in PowerPoint 2016 for Mac

PowerPoint 2016 for Mac' interface sports the Ribbon, which is tabbed. Each of these tabs contains a set of commands. By default, PowerPoint contains several such tabs, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 1, below.

Figure 1: Default Ribbon tabs within the PowerPoint 2016 for Mac interface

These Ribbon tabs can be customized, and you can indeed add a new Ribbon tab as well. In fact, you may have more default tabs in your PowerPoint 2016 for Mac interface due to several reasons:

1. You may have installed some PowerPoint add-ins, and these may show within an Add-Ins tab.
2. You may have installed a PowerPoint add-in that created its own Ribbon tab.
3. You may have selected a slide object that brings up a contextual tab. For example, you see extra Ribbon tabs when you select a chart on your slide.
4. You may have created your own custom Ribbon tab.

The default Ribbon tabs, as shown in Figure 1, above, can be hidden, but not removed or reordered in PowerPoint 2016 for Mac. And, your custom tabs can be hidden as well as removed.

Follow these steps to explore more:

1. You first need to bring up the Ribbon & Toolbar dialog box. There are two ways to access this dialog box. The easier way is to click the down arrow on the Quick Access Toolbar and to choose the More Commands option from the resultant menu, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 2, below.
2. 
   Figure 2: More Commands option
3. Alternatively, choose the PowerPoint | Preferences menu option, as shown in Figure 3, below.
4. 
   Figure 3: PowerPoint | Preferences menu option
5. Doing so opens the PowerPoint Preferences dialog box, as shown in Figure 4, below. Within this dialog box, select the Ribbon & Toolbar option, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 4.
6. 
   Figure 4: Ribbon & Toolbar option
2. Either way, you end up with the Ribbon & Toolbar dialog box, as shown in Figure 5, below. Make sure that the Ribbon tab is selected, as shown in Figure 5. Note that we added new Ribbon tab, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 5.
3. 
   Figure 5: Custom tab within the Ribbon & Toolbar dialog box

No Ribbon Customization Options?

If you see no Ribbon customization options, you might be using a perpetual version of PowerPoint 2016 for Mac, rather than an Office 365 subscription version. Look at our Identify Your Version and License of Microsoft PowerPoint and Office on Mac page to learn more.

No Reordering Options for Ribbon Tabs in PowerPoint 2016 for Mac?

Currently, you can't change the order of the tabs on the Ribbon. This applies to both default and custom tabs. However, for custom tabs, you can delete the tab altogether, and then add it again to place it in the location you want—but you can't do so with default tabs.
3. To remove a custom tab, just select it and and click on the Minus (-) button, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 6, below.
4. 
   Figure 6: Remove the selected tab
4. When done, click the Save button within the Ribbon & Toolbar dialog box to get back to the PowerPoint 2016 for Mac interface.
5. This removes the custom tab from the Ribbon. Even though you can't remove default tabs from the Ribbon, you can hide any tab. To do so, deselect the checkbox associated with the tab to be removed within the Ribbon & Toolbar dialog box.