My Ribbon is gone!

This is a common exclamation by new Office 2007 and 2010 users. We come from a long line of “double clickers” even though precious little needs a double click. One of the things you might actually double click on is a tab on the Ribbon (Home, Insert, Page Layout, etc.). If you do this it will minimize the Ribbon. You will still see your Quick Access Toolbar, but no Groups or Buttons. Solution – Single click, then Double click on any tab. Voila! Your Ribbon is back. You can also right click on a tab and uncheck Minimize the Ribbon. By the way if this doesn’t bring it back, you may have accidentally clicked on the Full Screen button in the View tab and Workbook Views group. To fix this, minimize the application, then restore it. All Better.

My workbook is gone!

If you just had it open, don’t remember closing it and then no matter how many times you try to open it it just doesn’t appear, it can seem like you’ve crossed over to another dimension. Solution – Relax! What you probably did was accidently click on the Hide button in the View tab and the Windows group. In the same place, just below it is the Unhide button. Click it and you’ll see a dialog box with your workbook listed. Select it, click OK and you’re back!

I can’t see my worksheet tabs!

Sometimes in the process of working with our worksheets in multiple windows, Excel hangs on to the sized worksheet. Since when a Window is sized (click the Arrange button in the Window Group on the View tab), it can be dragged down, the worksheet tabs might seem to disappear. Solution – You know those 3 buttons that appear in the upper right hand corner of application Window for minimize (the dash), restore (box or boxes) and close (the X)? You will see another set of these at the upper right hand corner of the worksheet. Click the box in the middle of the three buttons on the worksheet. It is now maximized inside the application window and your worksheet tabs should once again be accessible. Want to beef up your Excel skills and include Pivot Tables among them? Check out our webinar on 4/11/2012 and teach your data to talk!