When the sheet tabs disappear from the bottom of an Excel window, the cause is almost always one of five things: the Show sheet tabs option is off, the horizontal scroll bar has been dragged over the tabs, the window is sized or positioned so the bottom edge is off-screen, the sheets themselves are hidden, or the workbook is protected. This guide walks through each fix in order, for Excel for Microsoft 365, Excel 2021, 2019, 2016, 2013, Excel for Mac and Excel for the web.
Quick Answer
Go to File > Options > Advanced, scroll to Display options for this workbook, check Show sheet tabs, and click OK. If the tabs still don’t appear, drag the small splitter at the left end of the horizontal scroll bar to the right, or maximize the Excel window.
Fix 1: Turn On Show Sheet Tabs (Windows)
- Open the workbook that is missing its tabs. The setting is saved per workbook, so fix it in the file that has the problem.
- Click File, then Options at the bottom of the left pane. (In Excel 2007 it was the Office button > Excel Options.)
- Choose Advanced.
- Scroll down to Display options for this workbook. Make sure the drop-down next to it names the right workbook if several are open.
- Check Show sheet tabs. While you’re there, confirm Show horizontal scroll bar is checked too.
- Click OK, then save the workbook so the tabs stay visible for anyone who opens it.
Fix 2: Excel for Mac
- Click Excel in the menu bar, then Preferences (called Settings in newer macOS versions).
- Click View.
- Under In Workbook (or Window Options in some versions), check Sheet tabs.
- Close the dialog; the change applies right away.
Fix 3: Drag the Scroll Bar Off the Tabs
The sheet tabs and the horizontal scroll bar share one strip. A vertical splitter (three dots or a short bar) sits between them, and if it’s dragged all the way left, the scroll bar covers every tab.
- Look at the bottom-left corner of the grid, just right of the tab navigation arrows.
- Hover until the pointer turns into a double-headed arrow.
- Drag to the right until the tabs reappear. Double-clicking the splitter resets it to the default width in many versions.
Fix 4: Resize or Maximize the Window
- Double-click the Excel title bar, or click the Maximize button, so the bottom edge of the workbook is on screen.
- If you use View > Arrange All or have several workbook windows open, one window can be positioned so its tab strip falls below the taskbar. Maximize it or use View > Switch Windows.
- On a laptop with display scaling above 100%, or after unplugging an external monitor, Excel can open partly off-screen. Press Windows key + Up arrow to maximize it.
- If the status bar is hidden, the tab strip may look cut off; check that Excel isn’t in full-screen or Auto-hide Ribbon mode with the bottom edge clipped.
Fix 5: Unhide Hidden Sheets
If some tabs show but others are missing, those sheets are hidden rather than the tab bar.
- Right-click any visible sheet tab and choose Unhide.
- Select the sheet or sheets to show. Excel for Microsoft 365 lets you pick several at once with Ctrl or Shift; older versions unhide one at a time.
- Click OK.
You can also go to Home > Format > Hide & Unhide > Unhide Sheet.
If Unhide is grayed out, or a sheet you know exists isn’t in the list, it may be set to very hidden. Press Alt + F11 to open the Visual Basic editor, select the sheet in the Project pane, and in the Properties window change Visible from 2 – xlSheetVeryHidden to -1 – xlSheetVisible. Only do this on workbooks you own or have permission to change.
Fix 6: Check Workbook Protection
When a workbook’s structure is protected, you can’t unhide, insert, rename or delete sheets, and the Unhide command is unavailable. Go to Review > Protect Workbook; if it’s highlighted, click it and enter the password to turn protection off. If you don’t have the password, ask the file’s owner.
Excel for the Web
Excel for the web shows sheet tabs at the bottom of the browser window and doesn’t have a Show sheet tabs option. If they’re missing, zoom out the browser (Ctrl + minus), exit full screen, or right-click a tab and choose Unhide to reveal hidden sheets. A sheet that is very hidden has to be changed in the desktop app.
Move Between Sheets Without the Tabs
- Ctrl + Page Down goes to the next sheet; Ctrl + Page Up goes to the previous one. On a Mac, use Option + Right/Left arrow or Fn + Control + Down/Up arrow, depending on the keyboard.
- Right-click the navigation arrows at the bottom-left to open the Activate list of every visible sheet.
- Press F5 (Go To), type a reference such as Sheet3!A1, and press Enter.
Which Fix Do You Need?
| What you see | Most likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| No tabs and no navigation arrows | Show sheet tabs is off | Fix 1 or 2 |
| Navigation arrows but a long scroll bar and no tabs | Scroll bar dragged over tabs | Fix 3 |
| Bottom of the grid, status bar and tabs all missing | Window off-screen or not maximized | Fix 4 |
| Some tabs present, some missing | Sheets hidden | Fix 5 |
| Unhide grayed out | Protected structure or very hidden | Fix 5 and 6 |
Once the tabs are back, you can insert a new worksheet in Excel with the + button or Shift + F11.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did my sheet tabs disappear on their own?
Usually someone saved the file with the option off, or a macro or add-in changed it. Because the setting is stored in the workbook, a file you received from someone else can open without tabs even though your other files are fine.
Does turning on Show sheet tabs affect other workbooks?
No. It applies to the workbook selected in the Display options drop-down.
Can I make the tabs bigger?
Excel doesn’t have a tab size setting. Tab text follows Windows display scaling, so raising scaling in Settings > System > Display makes the tabs larger along with everything else.
How do I color a sheet tab so it’s easier to find?
Right-click the tab, choose Tab Color, and pick a color.
Summary
- File > Options > Advanced > check Show sheet tabs (Excel > Preferences > View on a Mac).
- Drag the scroll bar splitter to the right.
- Maximize the window so the bottom edge is visible.
- Right-click a tab > Unhide for hidden sheets.
- Turn off Review > Protect Workbook if Unhide is unavailable.
Kermit Matthews is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with more than a decade of experience writing technology guides. He has a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Computer Science and has spent much of his professional career in IT management.
He specializes in writing content about iPhones, Android devices, Microsoft Office, and many other popular applications and devices.