Note Works with all versions of Microsoft Word.
You can get important information about the document you are working on without even taking your eyes off the window. The status bar is a horizontal area at the bottom of the document window in Microsoft Word that provides contextual details about the active document in a window. You can also double click certain items on the status bar to perform tasks.
Display the Status Bar
Before you can use the status bar, you must make sure it is displayed. To do so, click Options on the Tools menu, click the View tab, and then select the Status bar check box under Show in Word 2000 or Window in Word 97.
What the Status Bar Tells You
The status bar displays important information about your document that sometimes depends on your cursor location. The following table describes document information that the status bar might display.
|
This status bar item |
Tells you this |
|
Page number |
The page number of the page shown based on the page numbers you gave the document, if any. |
|
Section number |
The section number of the page shown in the window. |
|
Number/number |
The actual page number (not the user-defined page number) and the total number of pages based on the physical page count in the document. |
|
At |
The distance from the top of the page to your insertion point. |
|
Ln |
The line of text where the insertion point is located. |
|
Col |
The distance, in number of characters, from the left margin to the insertion point. |
Quick Access to Features from the Status Bar
The following table describes tasks that you might be able to perform from the status bar.
|
Double click this status bar item |
To do this |
|
EXT |
Turn the extend selection mode on or off. |
|
OVR |
Turn the overtype mode on or off. |
|
REC |
Turn the macro recorder on or off. |
|
TRK |
Turn the track changes feature on or off. |
|
Language descriptor (Word 2000 only) |
Open the Language dialog box. |
|
Spelling checker status icon |
Resolve any spelling errors in the document. |