Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: Displaying a Message in the Status Bar.
When you are creating VBA macros, you can place a message on the status bar by using (oddly enough) the StatusBar property. For instance, the statement
StatusBar = "I'm working as fast as I can..."
will print the message within the quote marks on the status bar. If you use the StatusBar property, you can keep users informed about what your macro is doing. (After all, it's best not to leave them wondering.) If you want to "turn off" what is displayed in the status bar, you can do so by using the following statement:
StatusBar = ""
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (723) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) here: Displaying a Message in the Status Bar.
Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 2013 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Access) with VBA programming, using it for writing macros, automating Office applications, and creating custom applications. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2013 today!
Need to figure out the number of characters in a range of selected text? Here's how to do it in VBA.
Discover MoreGot a macro that processes or uses styles? You definitely need to know how many styles Word has available in the ...
Discover MoreYou can open multiple documents at the same time in Word, and each document occupies its own document window. Here's a ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
2016-12-07 01:01:51
John Davidson
Later ... On a whim, I commented out a SendKeys "{ESC}" - and the status bar is now behaving. So using the virtual keyboard messes up programming use of the Status Bar
2016-12-07 00:03:10
When displaying a message on the status bar at the end of a subroutine, it doesn't always remain in place when the subroutine ends. It can get overwritten by Word's standard status bar even before the user touches the keyboard or anything else. If you flash up a Word dialogue box and dismiss just before the end of a sub, for example. Even if you add a wait statement to let the screen settle down before displaying the status bar. Anyone got any ideas on how to make the status bar message stay around until the user types or clicks something?
Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2018 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: 
Comments