4 Ways to Fix Formula Bar Not Showing in Excel

Some people prefer to write formulas in cells. But others may like using the formula bar to enter formulas or to view the formulas applied in cells. Sometimes we can mistakenly hide the formula bar. This article solves the formula bar not showing problems in Excel with 4 convenient and step-by-step solutions.

📁  Download Excel File

Download the following Excel workbook to realize the topic more clearly.

Learn to Fix Formula Bar Not Showing in Excel with These 4 Suitable Solutions

Today we will use the following sample dataset that contains the top six Western Conference teams right now and their W-L records along with the Percentiles. You can also see from the following screenshot that the formula bar is missing.

In our first solution, we will implement the View tab from Excel Ribbon to mend formula bar not showing.

⬇️⬇️ STEPS ⬇️⬇️

• Initially, navigate to View tab.
• Next, under the Show group, you will find Formula Bar check box.
• Afterward, click the box to see formulas applied in cells.

• Consequently, you will see the formula applied in cell E6 in the formula bar.

Now, we will demonstrate how to utilize the Advanced Excel Options to fix formula bar not showing in Excel.

⬇️⬇️ STEPS ⬇️⬇️

• To start with, navigate to File tab.
• After that, click Options from the bottom left corner of the window.
• Momentarily, the Excel Options dialog box will pop up on the screen.
• Next, select Advanced from the left side of the box.
• Afterward, scroll down to Display options and click on Show formula bar. Then, click OK.

• Voila! You can see the formula applied to cell E6 in the formula bar.

In our penultimate solution, we will execute a brief VBA code to show formula bar.

⬇️⬇️ STEPS ⬇️⬇️

• In the beginning, move to Developer tab and click Visual Basic.

• Instantly, a Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications window will appear.
• Next, select Module from Insert tab.

• Later, a code window will open. Copy and Paste the following code in the window and press Ctrl+S to save the code.

Sub FormulaBar()
Application.DisplayFormulaBar = True
End Sub

• Afterward, return to the VBA sheet and click Macros from Developer tab.

• Now, Run the macro from the dialog box.

• Done! We have brought the formula bar back where it belongs.

Lastly, we will use keyboard shortcuts to solve formula bar not showing problem. This is perhaps the most time-saving solution.

⬇️⬇️ STEPS ⬇️⬇️

• First, press Alt+W to move to View tab using the keyboard shortcuts.
• Then press V+F sequentially to show the formula bar.

• Thus, you need to press Alt+W+V+F sequentially to restore the formula bar.

📝  Takeaways from This Article

📌  Firstly, we used the View tab from Excel Ribbon to solve the formula bar not showing the problem.

📌  Secondly, we demonstrated how to utilize the Advanced Excel Options dialog box to show formula bar.

📌  Later, we executed a simple VBA code to fix formula bar not showing problem.

📌  Finally, we applied keyboard shortcuts to make the formula bar visible.

Conclusion

That concludes the discussion for today. These are some convenient solutions to fix formula bar not showing in Excel. If you have any queries or recommendations, kindly notify us in the comments section. Downloading the practice sheet will help you comprehend the concepts better. Visit our website ExcelDen to find out about diverse kinds of Excel methods. We appreciate you taking the time to read this article.