Turning Off ScreenTips

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated September 21, 2021)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

ScreenTips are the small yellow boxes that appear as you position the mouse pointer over a toolbar button or over another control on the Excel program window. Some people find these ScreenTips distracting, so Microsoft provided a way for you to control whether they are displayed or not. To turn off ScreenTips, follow these steps:

  1. Choose the Customize option from the Tools menu. Excel displays the Customize dialog box.
  2. Click on the Options tab. (See Figure 1.)

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

  3. Make sure the Show ScreenTips on Toolbars option is not selected.
  4. Click on Close.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (3390) 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

Changing Paragraph Borders

Word allows you to easily add borders to a paragraph of text. If you want, you can even change each side of the border to ...

Discover More

Pasting a Hyperlink

Need a quick link within a document to some external data? You can paste information so that Excel treats it just like a ...

Discover More

Recovering Macros from Corrupted Workbooks

Workbooks get corrupted from time to time; that's a fact of life in an Excel world. If those corrupted workbooks contain ...

Discover More

Program Successfully in Excel! This guide will provide you with all the information you need to automate any task in Excel and save time and effort. Learn how to extend Excel's functionality with VBA to create solutions not possible with the standard features. Includes latest information for Excel 2024 and Microsoft 365. Check out Mastering Excel VBA Programming today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

Canceling a Menu

Want to cancel whatever menu command you started to use in Excel? The normal method is by pressing Esc, but this is not ...

Discover More

Thoughts and Ideas on Significant Digits in Excel

Ruminations and reflections about significant digits in Excel. Includes examples of how significant digits can affect the ...

Discover More

Embedding Your Phone Number in a Workbook

Want to provide a bit of contact information in a workbook? A great place to do it (out of sight, but not inaccessible) ...

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 4 - 2?

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.