How to switch to Excel full screen mode

by | Feb 26, 2020 | Excel Tips & Tricks

excel full screen

Excel’s toolbar and Ribbon contain many features and shortcut icons that are aimed for improving productivity. On the other hand, these icons actually take a lot of space in your screen. Thus, your work space becomes a bit more limited. A full screen, or close-to-full-screen view can greatly increase the work area visibility. In this guide, we’re going to show you how to switch to Excel full screen mode.

Excel versions have different type of full screen approaches. Let’s see them all.

Switch full screen mode in Excel 2016 and higher versions

Shortcut

When the Excel window is active, press Ctrl + Shift + F1 on your keyboard to switch full screen. Although, the Mac version doesn’t have a dedicated shortcut, you can use the generic Control + Command + F to make the window full screen. However, the Ribbon will stay.

How to switch full screen mode in Excel 01

Ribbon Icon

By default, Excel doesn’t have the Full Screen icon in the Ribbon. However, this command can be added manually. Follow the steps to open Excel Options and add the command into the Ribbon.

  1. Right-click on the Ribbon and click on the Customize the Ribbon, or go to File > Excel Options > Customize Ribbon
  2. Select All Commands in Choose commands from dropdown
  3. Scroll down to the commands list until you find Full Screen and select it
  4. Click the New Tab button on the right side of the window to add a new tab into the Ribbon. Excel also adds a group under the new tab.
  5. Optionally you can rename the new tab and the group using Rename
  6. Click Add when Full Screen is selected
  7. Click OK to apply your changes

After these steps, you can find the Full Screen command under the new tab in the Ribbon.

VBA Code

Another way to enable or disable the full screen mode is using a simple VBA code. The Application.DisplayFullScreen property value defines the full screen mode. Give True to switch to full screen. Alternatively, you can set it to False to return back to the normal view.

Here are sample codes:


Sub Fullscreen_On()

 Application.DisplayFullScreen = True

End Sub


Sub Fullscreen_Off()

 Application.DisplayFullScreen = False

End Sub






Switch full screen mode in Excel 2013


Excel 2013 actually does not support a full screen mode, and we do not know why it may have been removed from the 2013 version. However, you can hide the formula bar and the Ribbon to mimic the same functionality.


To hide the Ribbon, press the Ctrl + F1 keys, or right-click on the Ribbon and click on the Collapse the Ribbon item.




You can find the option for hiding the formula bar on the View tab. Uncheck the Formula Bar checkbox to hide.




You can inf more information about hiding the formula bar in How to hide and unhide formula bar in Excel.


Switch full screen mode in Excel 2007 or 2010


The Full Screen command can be found on the View tab in the Ribbon.




Press the Esc key to exit from the full screen mode.