Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007 and 2010. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Displaying a Message in the Status Bar.

Displaying a Message in the Status Bar

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 20, 2023)
This tip applies to Word 2007 and 2010

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 = ""

Microsoft removed support for the StatusBar property from Word 2013, so this tip will only work with Word 2007 and Word 2010.

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 (13040) applies to Microsoft Word 2007 and 2010. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Displaying a Message in the Status Bar.

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

Changing Orientations within a Single Printout

Excel allows you to print out information in either portrait or landscape orientation, but what if you need both types of ...

Discover More

Using Continued Lines

You can create a special header and footer page numbering scheme by using nested fields. This tip shows an example of how ...

Discover More

Setting Grid Line Intervals for a Radar Chart

Excel provides a wide variety of chart types you can use with your data. Unfortunately, this variety can often make it ...

Discover More

Comprehensive VBA Guide Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is the language used for writing macros in all Office programs. This complete guide shows both professionals and novices how to master VBA in order to customize the entire Office suite for their needs. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2010 today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Determining the Number of Fonts Available

When creating a macro, you may need to figure out how many fonts are available to Word. You can do this using the ...

Discover More

Displaying Properties Dialog Box in a Macro

Word keeps track of identifying and statistical information about a document and makes that information available in the ...

Discover More

Adding Automatic Time Stamps

Your computer knows the current date and time, and Word provides ways you can get that date and time into your document. ...

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 nine minus 5?

2017-11-14 18:56:20

Stephen

Support for statusbar may have been stopped, but this code still works for me in Word 2016.

This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.