While you are working on a lengthy document, you may want to see more of the page at a time. It is possible to hide (and show) the ribbon to maximize the viewing area of the document. This is also quite handy if you are working on a small screen.
5 ways to Show and Hide Ribbon in MS Word
- Hide the ribbon completely
- Show only the tabs
- Show the entire ribbon using the tabs
- Show the entire ribbon using the More icon
- Show all tabs and commands in the ribbon
We will show you in easy, step-by-step instructions how to show and hide the ribbon.
Let us begin.
Method #1: Hide the Ribbon Completely
If you need more space to focus on creating your document and know you won’t need to access all the Word options for a while, it is beneficial to hide the ribbon completely. This gives you more ‘screen real-estate’ to focus on your work.
Step #1: Open a Word document
Open a Word document in which you want to work.
Step #2: Access the ribbon display shortcut
By default, you should see the Quick Access Toolbar, plus the ribbon, and commands when you access any new document. It should look like this:
Above the ribbon, in the area that is blue in our example, there are many shortcut icons.
Click on the Ribbon Display Options icon, which will be on the right side of the Quick Access Toolbar, and looks as follows:
When you click on this, it will open a list of three choices:
- Auto-hide Ribbon — Hide the ribbon completely.
- Show Tabs — Show ribbon tabs only.
- Show Tabs and Commands — The default view, showing the full ribbon and tabs.
Step #3: Select the hide ribbon option
Click on the Auto-hide Ribbon option.
Word will now stop displaying the ribbon.
Method #2: Show Only Tabs
If you are comfortable using Word and know which shortcut is where, you may benefit from hiding the ribbon and only showing the tabs. The ribbon is still quickly accessible, but this gives you more ‘screen real-estate’ to focus on your work.
Step #1: Open a Word document
Open a Word document where the ribbon is hidden.
Step #2: Access the ribbon display shortcut
Click on the Ribbon Display Options icon on the right side of the Quick Access Toolbar above the ribbon.
This will open a list of three choices:
- Auto-hide Ribbon — Hide the ribbon completely.
- Show Tabs — Show tabs only.
- Show Tabs and Commands — The default view, showing the full ribbon and tabs.
Step #3: Select the show tabs option
Click on the Show Tabs option.
Word now shows only the tabs on your display.
Method #3: Show the Entire Ribbon Using Tabs
If your ribbon is hidden, or you open MS Word only to find the ribbon missing, there are simple techniques for showing the ribbon for you to make edits, but it will disappear again once your edits are made.
Step #1: Open a Word document
Open a Word document with only the tabs showing.
Step #2: Show the ribbon
Click on any tab to show the commands related to that tab.
The commands will disappear again when you start typing in the document.
Double-click on any tab to show the ribbon permanently again.
Method #4: Show the Entire Ribbon Using the More Icon
Similar to the above option, it takes just one click to show or hide the ribbon.
Step #1: Open a Word document
Open a Word document with the ribbon hidden or only the tabs showing.
Step #2: Access the more shortcut
Click on the More icon on the right side of the Quick Access Toolbar above the ribbon. It will look like three dots in a row.
Word will now show the ribbon.
The ribbon will disappear again when you start typing in the document.
Method #5: Show All Tabs and Commands
This is for reverting back to the default option, where tabs and commands are openly displayed as usual.
Step #1: Open a Word document
Open a Word document with the ribbon hidden or only the tabs showing.
Step #2: Access the ribbon display shortcut
Click on the Ribbon Display Options icon on the right side of the Quick Access Toolbar above the document.
This will open a list of three choices:
- Auto-hide Ribbon — Hide the ribbon completely.
- Show Tabs — Show tabs only.
- Show Tabs and Commands — The default view, showing the full ribbon and tabs.
Click on the Show Tabs and Commands option.
Word now shows the ribbon permanently.
Conclusion
Showing and hiding the ribbon can be as simple as clicking on a tab, or accessing the Ribbons shortcut. We have shown you all the methods of how you can show and hide the ribbon in MS Word. Use the one that best suits your requirements.