Controlling Display of the Status Bar

Summary: The status bar is used to display all sorts of information about the document on which you are working. Depending on your version of Word, you can easily turn the status bar off if you never use it. (This tip works with Microsoft Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, Word 2003, and Word 2007.)

The status bar is the area at the bottom of the Word window that indicates information about the current document. It displays information about what page you are on, as well as your line number on the page and character number on the line. It also shows information about which editing toggles you have turned on. If you need more room to view a document, or you don't need the information provided by the status bar, you can turn it off. To control display of the status bar, follow these steps if you are using a version of Word prior to Word 2007:

Choose Options from the Tools menu. This displays the Options dialog box.
Make sure the View tab is selected. (Click here to see a related figure.)
Click on the Status Bar check box. If there is a check mark in the check box, then the status bar will be displayed; no check mark means it will not.
Click on OK.

If you are using Word 2007, it seems that you are stuck with the status bar, whether you want it or not. There is no option to turn it off, as there is in earlier versions of Word.

Tip #1202 applies to Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Step Up and Take Control! Subscribers to WordTips know just how valuable a resource it is. WordTips Premium provides twice the number of exceptional, easy-to-understand tips every week in an ad-free newsletter, as well as substantial discounts on WordTips archives and e-books.

Check out WordTips Premium today!