How to Fix Formula Bar Not Showing on Excel

Is the formula bar not showing on Microsoft Excel?

Microsoft Excel is powerful spreadsheet software that can help us process, organize, and analyze large data. With the help of organizing software like Excel, data analysts and similar users can make information easier to view. 

Microsoft Excel consists of a worksheet that is filled with boxes called cells. These cells can be organized as a table for better data presentation. 

One of the most useful functions in Excel is the formula command, which allows us to perform equations automatically, set various formatting conditions on your worksheet, and populate multiple cells with data in one go. 

Recently, there have been reports from users who encounter issues using Excel. Based on the reports, the formula bar is not showing in their worksheets on Excel. 

To help out, we’ve listed the most effective ways for fixing the formula bar if it is not showing on Excel. 

Let’s dive right in!

1. Restart Your Computer. 

If something is not right with Excel or its features, you can try reloading its resources first by restarting your system. This should also flush out your system cache and eliminate temporary errors that may have occurred during use. 

Check out the steps below to restart your PC:

  1. First, press the Windows key on your keyboard to open the Start Menu
  2. After that, access the Power Options tab. 
  3. Lastly, choose Restart and wait for your system to reboot. 
Restart your PC

Once done, go back to Microsoft Excel and check if the problem is solved. 

2. Check Your View Settings. 

The formula bar might be disabled on your worksheet, explaining why it is not showing on Microsoft Excel. To rule this, try checking your view settings to ensure that the formula bar is enabled. 

Here’s what you need to do: 

  1. Launch Microsoft Excel on your computer. 
  2. After that, access the View tab. 
  3. Finally, click on Show and ensure that the Formula Bar is enabled. 
formula bar not showing on excel

Relaunch Microsoft Excel afterward and check if the problem is solved. 

3. Check Advanced Settings. 

If enabling the formula bar in the ‘View tab’ was not enough, you can try tweaking your advanced file settings to activate the missing toolbar. 

See the steps below to turn on the formula bar in advanced settings: 

  1. First, navigate to File > Options in Microsoft Excel
  2. Now, click on Advanced and scroll to the Display tab. 
  3. Lastly, ensure that the ‘Show Formula Bar’ option is marked checked. 
formula bar not showing on excel

Re-access your worksheet after saving the changes and check if the formula bar is now showing. 

4. Use Keyboard Shortcuts. 

Another way to activate the formula bar is by utilizing keyboard shortcuts. You might have accidentally disabled the formula bar on your worksheet, which prevents it from showing up in the toolbar. 

To activate the formula tab, you’ll have to access your worksheet first. Now, press ALT > W > V  F on your keyboard. 

The formula bar should now appear on your worksheet. 

5. Update Microsoft Excel. 

Finally, you can try updating Microsoft Excel if the formula bar is still not showing up on your Excel worksheet. This should patch bugs and glitches in the software and ensure that you have the latest working version of Excel. 

See the steps below to update Excel: 

  1. First, launch Microsoft Excel on your computer. 
  2. After that, click on File > Accounts
  3. Lastly, access the Update Options tab and click on Update Now or Enable Updates
formula bar not showing on excel

Restart Excel afterward and check if the problem is solved. 

That ends our guide on how to fix the formula bar not showing in Excel. If you have questions, please leave a comment below, and we’ll do our best to help. 

If this guide helped you, please share it. 🙂

Author

  • John Sixto

    John is a staff writer at Saint and comes from a SAP ABAP development background. He has a Bachelors in IT and has been writing since 2018, with over 500 posts published. He loves to build PCs and has a deep curiosity in understanding how different components and configurations work. John spends hundreds of hours at a time, researching and testing the software and apps, before he proceeds to write about it. LinkedIn X (Twitter) Website

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