How to Show Status Bar in Excel: 6 Best Ways

The status bar on Excel is a simple yet powerful tool that often goes unnoticed. If you don’t find it in your Excel workbook, this article will help you get back the Excel status bar.

Microsoft Excel comes with various user interfaces tools like ribbon, quick access toolbar, formula bar, and status bar. The status bar is particularly important since it houses many secret options. From simple mathematical formulas to advanced Excel settings like Accessibility settings, VBA script status, Macro recording, etc., are easily accessible from the status bar.

Read the article until the end to explore various ways to show the status bar on Excel if it’s not available or hidden.

What Is a Status Bar in Excel?

You might have noticed that there’s a zoom-in and zoom-out slider at the bottom right corner of the Excel app. It’s highly likely you used the zoom-in and zoom-out features on Excel already. That’s the Excel status bar. The user interface element on which this slider exists is the Excel status bar.

It shows various statuses about your Excel desktop installation like Ready (status of the app), Macro recording status, Workbook views, and the zoom in/ out slider. You can customize the Excel status bar by right-clicking on it and then adding other functionalities from a context menu. The most popular additional functionalities that expert Excel users use are:

• Flash Fill Blank Cells
• Sheet Number
• Workbook Statistics
• Caps Lock and Num Lock indication
• Simple mathematical functions like Average, Count, Minimum, Maximum, Sum, etc.
• Upload Status

The Location of Status Bar in Excel

Now that you know more about the status bar on Excel, you might ask exactly where is the status bar in Excel. As explained already, you should always find it at the bottom of the Excel desktop application. The Excel status bar is also available on the Excel for the web. However, the Excel online version has limited status bar customization options than the Excel desktop application.

By default, all Excel desktop installations should show the status bar. However, there are ways to hide the status bar to get more screen real estate for focused work on Excel. Sometimes, due to VBA script, Macro, or other Excel software issues, the status bar may not show up.

If you desperately need the status bar on Excel but are unable to find it anywhere on the app, follow the troubleshooting methods mentioned below.

1. Resize App Window to Show Status Bar on Excel

If you don’t see the status bar on Excel, don’t just panic yet. In most cases, Excel users are unable to find the status bar just because they are using the application in windowed mode. When you’ve put the Excel application in the windowed mode and using drag and drop actions to change its position on your PC screen, it’s easy to overlap the Excel status bar with the Windows Taskbar.

The Windows Taskbar will always show on the top of any app or dialog box on a Windows PC. If you overlap the status bar in Excel with the Taskbar, the status bar will go under and hence you’re unable to find it. Here’s how to resolve this issue:

1. Click the Maximize icon (to the left of the Close button) in the top-right corner of the Excel app window.
2. When the Excel app occupies the entire display screen, you should find the status bar at the bottom of the Excel app.

3. If you don’t wish to maximize the Excel window for some reason, reposition the Excel window so that it doesn’t overlap with the Taskbar. Refer to the image shown above.

This is the easiest way to show the status bar in Excel. If this method doesn’t work for you, try the rest of the troubleshooting ideas below:

2. Show Status Bar With Excel Options

When the Excel app is in fullscreen mode and you don’t see the status bar on Excel, it’s likely that the feature is disabled from the Excel Options. Here’s how you can re-activate the feature manually:

1. Click the File tab in the top-left corner of the Excel ribbon menu.
2. On the left-side navigation pane, click on Options. This will open the Excel Options dialog box. Alternatively, you can press the Alt, F, and T keys to arrive at the same dialog box.

3. In the Excel Options dialog box, select the Advanced tab.
4. Scroll down until you find the Display section on the right.
5. Checkmark the checkbox next to the Show status bar option under the Display options for this workbook section.

Note: In the above screenshot, you won’t see the option for the Show status bar since the Excel status bar was active in my app.

6. Hit the OK button to save the changes and close the Excel Options dialog box.

Sometimes, the Microsoft 365 admin can disable the status bar on Excel on PCs used in an organization. If you’re unable to set the status bar active in an organization-managed Excel app for Microsft 365 subscription, contact the IT admin, before trying any troubleshooting steps.

3. Show Status Bar on Excel Using Hotkeys

Excel comes with a focused view feature. In this mode, the Excel ribbon, scroll bar, formula bar, and other sidebars disappear including the status bar on Excel. You can knowingly or unknowingly activate this feature. If you do but don’t know how to restore the Excel app to its original display mode, here are the hotkeys you must try:

Ctrl + Shift + F1

Hit the Ctrl + Shift + F1 keys altogether to engage and disengage the focus mode. In this mode, all toolbars disappear except the formula bar.

Alt > V > U

If you press the Alt, V, and U keys in the order mentioned here, Excel will enter the focus mode where you can only see the columns and rows. In this mode, even the formula bar won’t show up. To get out of this mode and make the Excel status bar visible, hit the Esc key.

4. Show Status Bar With Right-Click

On some Excel desktop app versions, you can also use the right-click trick to show the Excel status bar. However, the feature must first be disabled by any means before you can find the appropriate right-click options. Here’s how it works:

1. When the status bar is unavailable on your Excel desktop app, right-click on the Excel ribbon or any toolbar.
2. A context menu with various options will show up. There, if you see the Status Bar option, click on it.
3. A checkmark will appear beside the Status Bar option on the context menu and the feature will also resurface at the bottom of the application.

5. Show Status Bar Using a VBA Code

Follow the steps mentioned below to get the status bar by running a short VBA script:

1. Hit Alt + F11 to open the VBA Editor.
2. Click the VBA Editor and then press the Ctrl + G keys together to bring up the Immediate code execution panel at the bottom of the VBA Editor.
3. Copy and paste the following code inside Immediate and hit the Enter key.

Application.DisplayStatusBar = True

4. The Excel status bar will show up promptly.
5. If you ever need to hide the status bar again, run the following VBA code in the same method mentioned earlier:

Application.DisplayStatusBar = False

6. Update the Excel 365 App

If none of the above are working, a software bug may be behind the Excel status bar issue. You should update the software by following these steps:

1. Click File on the Excel ribbon and then choose Account on the left-side panel.
2. On the Account page, click the Update Options button for Microsoft 365 and Office Updates.
3. Hit the Update Now button on the context menu that shows up.

If you’re using Excel 2021, 2019, 2016, etc., editions on your PC, the UI buttons may be different than the image shown above. However, the steps should be the same, which is File > Account / Office Account > Update Options / Update Now.

Conclusion

So these are all possible ways to show the Excel status bar if it’s missing on your PC or Mac. Try the methods in the order of their appearance to save time in troubleshooting. Do try out the troubleshooting ideas mentioned here and leave a comment about your experience in activating the status bar on Excel.