How to Keep the Ribbon Visible in Word 2013

The ribbon at the top of the window in Microsoft Word 2013 takes up a lot of space, which is a source of contention with users that preferred the more minimalist view of Word 2003.

But the commands in the ribbon are very important for formatting your document, so if that ribbon is not visible, you may be looking for a way to restore it to view.

Our guide below will show you several different ways that you can make the Word 2013 ribbon visible again.

Keeping the Ribbon Visible in Word 2013

The steps below will assume that your ribbon is currently minimized in Word 2013, which means that you can only see the tabs at the top of the window, and that the ribbon only becomes visible when you click one of the tabs.

Once you have completed the steps below, the ribbon will remain visible and expanded.

Here is how to keep the ribbon visible in Word 2013 –

  1. Open Word 2013.
  2. Right-click the Home tab, then click the Collapse the Ribbon option.

The steps are also show below with pictures –

Step 1: Open Word 2013.

Step 2: Right-click the Home tab, then click the Collapse the Ribbon option.

how to keep the ribbon visible in word 2013

Note that you can actually right-click any of the tabs (Insert, Design, Page Layout, etc.) and select the Collapse the Ribbon option.

There are a couple of other methods that you can use to keep the ribbon visible as well –

Alternate Method 1 – Double-click any of the tabs.

Alternate Method 2 – Hold down the Ctrl key, then press the F1 key. This will switch between a visible and minimized ribbon.

Alternate Method 3 – Click the Ribbon Display Options button at the top-right corner of the window, then click the Show Tabs and Commands option.

ribbon display options button

Alternate Method 4 – Right-click an item in the Quick Access Toolbar (such as the Save icon), then click the Collapse the Ribbon option.

ribbon display quick access toolbar

Now that you know how to keep the ribbon visible in Word 2013, you can make sure that all of the options on that ribbon stay visible when you need to use them.

One other hidden element in Word 2013 that you might want to display is the ruler. Learn how to show the ruler in Word 2013, and find out which rulers can be visible depending upon the view you are currently using in the program.

Join Our Free Newsletter

Featured guides and deals

You may opt out at any time.
Read our Privacy Policy