Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Enlarging the Formula Bar.
When you select a cell in a worksheet, the contents of that cell are shown in the Formula bar. If the contents are longer than what can be displayed in a single line on the Formula bar, the depth of the Formula bar increases so that the entire formula can be displayed. When you move to another cell, the Formula bar again decreases in depth to a single line.
The problem with an automatically adjusting Formula bar is that it can obscure other elements on the screen. If the Formula bar takes up two or three lines of depth, it overlays the column headers and other cells in the worksheet. This can be distracting, at times.
There are two ways around this. The first is to make the size of the Formula bar static and the other is to turn off the Formula bar completely.
Excel allows you to modify the number of lines used by the Formula bar. That way it will always take a specific amount of space and you won't be bothered by it jumping around as much. To expand the Formula bar (so you can see everything it contains), click the tool at the very right edge of the Formula bar. When you hover the mouse pointer over the tool, the ToolTip says "Expand Formula Bar." (In Excel 2013, it'll be the small arrow icon that expands the formula bar.)
Another option is to simply turn off the Formula bar completely. (If you have no Formula bar displayed, then it cannot expand and obscure information in the worksheet.) If you want to turn off the Formula bar completely, follow these steps:
Figure 1. The Display section of the Advanced options in the Excel Options dialog box.
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (11705) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Enlarging the Formula Bar.
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2016-03-08 09:28:38
Rick
How do I get my Excel 2016 to do what this tip is working around? I want the formula bar to automatically expand when the formula is longer than a single line. That's what my old version did. I liked it that way.
I have the arrow at the right end that forces the expansion, but then it stays that size and eats up my work space.
2015-11-14 07:39:48
Trevor
Or, you could just uncheck Formula Bar in the View Ribbon in Excel 2007 and above :). Can't remember what you have in 2003 and prior.
Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.
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Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: 
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