Customize commands and the ribbon

Article
11/28/2016

Applies To: Dynamics 365 (online), Dynamics 365 (on-premises), Dynamics CRM 2016, Dynamics CRM Online

Microsoft Dynamics 365 displays commands in different ways depending on the entity and the client. In most places in the web application you will see a command bar instead of a ribbon. Dynamics 365 for tablets also uses data defined as ribbons to control what commands are available using a command bar that is optimized for touch.

The command bar provides better performance. The ribbon is still displayed in the web application for certain entity forms and it is still used for list views in Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Outlook.

Both the command bar and the ribbon use the same underlying XML data to define what commands to display, when the commands are enabled, and what the commands do.

The topics in this section introduce you to key concepts that you must understand, and common tasks you perform when you customize the command bar or the ribbon.

Note

Because the underlying XML schema was designed to display commands as ribbons, the term ribbon will continue to be used in the documentation.

The SDK describes the process of editing the ribbon by editing the customization.xml file directly. Several people have created ribbon editors that provide a user interface to make editing the ribbon easier. Currently the following projects are available on CodePlex and other locations:

To obtain support or help to use these programs, contact the program publisher.