Hiding the Reviewing Toolbar

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated June 16, 2020)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

Steve Richards complained that whenever he creates a new document, Word opens the Reviewing toolbar. He doesn't want it to open automatically, but wants it hidden.

There could be several answers to this problem. If you are using Word 2000, the problem could be related to a Reviewing toolbar bug in that version of the program. You can read about that problem at the following WordTips page:

http://wordtips.vitalnews.com/Pages/T1261_Persistent_Reviewing_Toolbar_Display.html

If this is the problem, then you should be able to fix it by loading the Normal.dot template directly, hiding the Reviewing toolbar, and then saving the template.

If the problem still remains, or if you are using a version of Word other than Word 2000, then a solution is to create an AutoOpen macro that hides the toolbar. Just add the following macro to your Normal.dot template:

Public Sub AutoOpen()
    Application.CommandBars("Reviewing").Enabled=False
End Sub

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the WordTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (140) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

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