Displaying Toolbars

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated January 10, 2026)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

A toolbar is nothing but a collection of buttons or icons that are used to perform some common task in Word. Normally, toolbars appear just below the menu and just above the ruler. They can, however, appear almost anywhere on your screen, depending on the toolbar and how your Word screen has been configured.

The beauty of toolbars, besides increasing productivity, is that they are completely customizable. You can change tools and toolbars to suit your needs. You can even develop different toolbars for different document templates. Information on how to customize toolbars has been covered in other issues of WordTips.

Word allows you to control which toolbars are displayed at any given time. To turn a toolbar on or off, simply select the Toolbars option from the View menu. You see a submenu that lists many of the toolbars available.

All you need to do is select one of the toolbars available. When you select one of the toolbar names, Word displays that toolbar. When you select it again, Word removes the toolbar from your screen. If a check mark appears to the left of one of the toolbar names, the toolbar is visible.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1748) 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...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Counting Displayed Cells

When you filter data, Excel displays only a portion of what is really in a worksheet. If you want to count the number of ...

Discover More

Stopping Feet and Inches from Converting to Dates

When pasting information into a worksheet, Excel tries to helpfully convert that information. This can cause undesired ...

Discover More

Generating a List of Hyperlink Targets

Word makes it easy to add hyperlinks to your documents. If you want to get a list of those hyperlinks, that's a different ...

Discover More

Learning Made Easy! Quickly teach yourself how to format, publish, and share your content using Word 2021 or Microsoft 365. With Step by Step, you set the pace, building and practicing the skills you need, just when you need them! Check out Microsoft Word Step by Step today!

More WordTips (menu)

Creating a Calendar Tool

Word has no way to add a calendar to your document that can be used for inserting dates, but you can add a calendar tool ...

Discover More

Displaying a Single Page

When displaying the information in your document, Word is rather flexible. It can, if you so choose, display multiple ...

Discover More

Changing Word to Work in English

What are you to do if you know English but need to work in a version of Word that uses a language other than your own? ...

Discover More

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is three minus 0?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

This Site

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.