I have a custom ribbon, and most people on the database are not allowed to see or create much of anything. Some people are "power users" who want/or need to be able to create simple queries and some append queries.

Now, I wanted to alter the tab to remove other types of queries such as Update or delete queries, but when I finally found the "correct" XML:

<contextualTabs>
<tabSet idMso="TabSetQueryTools">
<tab idMso="TabQueryToolsDesign">
<group idMso="GroupQueryType">
<toggleButton idMso="QueryMakeTable" getVisible="RibTestVisible" />
<toggleButton idMso="QueryUpdate" getVisible="RibTestVisible" />
<toggleButton idMso="QueryCrosstab" getVisible="RibTestVisible" />
<toggleButton idMso="QueryDelete" getVisible="RibTestVisible" />
<toggleButton idMso="QueryUnionQuery" getVisible="RibTestVisible" />
<toggleButton idMso="QueryPassThroughQuery" getVisible="RibTestVisible" />
<toggleButton idMso="QueryDataDefinition" getVisible="RibTestVisible" />
</group>
</tab>
</tabSet>
</contextualTabs>

I get this error: controls in a built-in group cannot be modified

Is there anything I am doing wrong, or is there any other way to limit the types of queries these power users can make?

Thank you

The error message means what it says. You cannot modify/change a built-in/standardized group. You can, however, set up your own, customized group. Try starting with something like the following:

<customUI xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2009/07/customui">
<ribbon startFromScratch="true">
<tabs>
<tab id="dbCustomTab" label="YourCustomTabNameHere" visible="true">
<group id="dbCustomGroup" label="YourCustomGroupNameHere">
<control idMso="Cut" label="Cut" enabled="true"/>
<control idMso="Copy" label="Copy" enabled="true"/>
<control idMso="Paste" label="Paste" enabled="true"/>
</group>