Controlling Display of the Scroll Bars

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 15, 2021)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

At the bottom and right side of the worksheet there are scroll bars that control what part of the spreadsheet you are viewing at any given time. If you need more room to view a worksheet, or if you are using Excel without a mouse, you can turn them off. To control display of the scroll bars, follow these steps:

  1. Choose Options from the Tools menu. You will see the Options dialog box.
  2. Make sure the View tab is selected. (See Figure 1.)

    3. Figure 1. The View tab of the Options dialog box.

  3. In the Window Options area, clear the Horizontal Scroll Bar check box if you want the horizontal scroll bar removed.
  4. In the Windows Options area, clear the Vertical Scroll Bar check box if you want the vertical scroll bar removed.
  5. Click on OK.

With the scroll bars turned off, you must use the cursor control keys to move through the worksheet.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2644) applies to Microsoft Excel 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. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Ways to Combat Body Odor

Offensive body odor can be a problem for some people. If you need to reduce your body odor, there are several things you ...

Discover More

Suppressing Headers or Footers

Don't want a header or footer to appear on just a portion of your document? It's easy to do when you understand that ...

Discover More

Adding a Line Shape of a Given Slope and Length

If you want to create a line in your worksheet that is a specific length and slope, there are a couple of ways you can do ...

Discover More

Best-Selling VBA Tutorial for Beginners Take your Excel knowledge to the next level. With a little background in VBA programming, you can go well beyond basic spreadsheets and functions. Use macros to reduce errors, save time, and integrate with other Microsoft applications. Fully updated for the latest version of Office 365. Check out Microsoft 365 Excel VBA Programming For Dummies today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

Hiding Graphics

Graphics are a great addition to a worksheet, but there may be times when you don't want them printed. The easy way to ...

Discover More

Deleting All Graphics

Graphics can really add pizzazz to a worksheet, but they can also present some drawbacks. If you want to get rid of all ...

Discover More

Setting Default Attributes for Lines and Arrows

Don't like the way that Excel formats lines and arrows? You can easily make your own formatting changes, and then use ...

Discover More
Subscribe

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

View most recent newsletter.

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

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.

What is one more than 9?

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 Excel that uses the menu interface (Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, or Excel 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

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

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.

Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2026 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.