Ribbon Acting Strangely

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated October 10, 2020)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365

When Geoff opens a document in Word the program displays another tab of the ribbon instead of the Home tab. When he then clicks on the Home tab, all the tabs at the top overwrite the top few lines of the Word file, including the vertical scroll bar. Geoff has no idea how it happened, but it's driving him nuts. He wonders how to get his system back to "normal."

Actually, the description that Geoff provides sounds very similar to how Windows works when the ribbon has been "collapsed." This condition allows the ribbon to take less vertical space on the screen, but still allows all the ribbon functions to be accessible. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The ribbon can appear collapsed at times.

While the ribbon is collapsed, if you click any of the tabs (well, they would look like tabs if the ribbon wasn't collapsed), the contents of that tab expands downward, obscuring whatever part of the document was there. When you click somewhere else in the document, the ribbon again collapses to the single line.

If you want to return your ribbon to normal, try any of the following:

Double click any of the tabs on the ribbon.
Press Ctrl+F1.
Click the tiny upwards-pointing arrow near the upper-right corner of the screen, to the right of the question mark icon or the search icon (depending on your version of Word).

Your ribbon should now be expanded and function as normal.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (13308) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365.

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

Adding Lines in an Equation Editor Matrix

If you are using matrices in your equations, you can add lines to a matrix by applying this tip.

Discover More

Formulas Don't Calculate as Formulas

Enter a formula (starting with an equal sign) and you may be surprised if Excel doesn't calculate the formula. Here's a ...

Discover More

Creating a Letterhead Template

Word is often used to write all sorts of letters. You may want to create a template that makes creating your letters ...

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)

Helpful Pop-up Screen Tips

Screen tips can be helpful to people reading your document on-screen. Using the technique described here, you can add ...

Discover More

Cascading Document Windows

Want the various documents you have open to be cascaded on-screen so you can organize them easier? The capability is ...

Discover More

Viewing Document Statistics

As you develop a document, Word keeps track of certain statistics about the document itself. Here is how you can review ...

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 four less than 7?

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 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.