How to fix an issue where a black bar is covering my sheet tabs in Excel

We are experiencing the exact same issue in our environment.

Setup:

• Users connect via Remote Desktop to a Windows Server 2019 Datacenter RDS host.
• Microsoft® Excel® for Microsoft 365 MSO (Version 2507 Build 16.0.19029.20136) 32-bit.

Issue is currently affecting 2 users.

Symptoms:

• Menu/ribbon options in Excel disappear during use.
• A black bar sometimes appears in the worksheet area (example screenshot attached).
• Issue typically occurs within 1–2 hours of starting work in Excel as reported by users

Troubleshooting tried so far:

• Removed several add-ins
• Disabled hardware acceleration.
• Checked for corrupted Excel profile/configuration files.

So far, no permanent resolution. This started occurring only recently, it was first reported to us on August 5th, and matches reports from other users in this thread.

Hello @Connor Otterbeck and everyone in this thread, 

I’ve seen that many organizations are currently experiencing. 

At the moment, this issue has not yet been acknowledged as an official incident in the Microsoft 365 Service Health Dashboard. That means it’s important for us to report it directly to Microsoft so they can investigate and prioritize a fix. 

I strongly encourage you (and others affected) to report the issue directly from within Excel using the “Help > Feedback” option.  

Every report contributes to improving the product, and it’s often thanks to real-world usage and insights like yours that the dev team can prioritize fixes in upcoming updates. 

I’ll also submit a report from my side. Let’s keep each other updated if we hear anything back! 

Besides that, please follow these steps in my previous to raise a ticket if you want to reach out to higher technical support.

If you find this response helpful, please mark it as “Accepted Answer” so others with the same issue can easily find it. The more reports Microsoft receives, the more visibility the issue will get with the development team. 

Hello@Connor Otterbeck, 

Based on the information you've shared, the problem may be caused by how Citrix renders the display area of Excel. When switching between applications or resizing the window, Citrix may incorrectly render Excel’s interface, resulting in a black bar that obscures the sheet tabs. 

Since this issue may involve a third-party platform, identifying the root cause could require further input from Citrix or your infrastructure team. However, I’ll tried my best to assist you within the scope I can. 

To help you better, please provide me more detail: 

1.Does the issue occur outside of Citrix, for example when Excel is opened directly on a local machine? 

2. Do the affected machines share any common factors such as Excel version, Citrix Workspace version, operating system, or display configuration? 
3. Are users working with multiple monitors or using custom display scaling settings? 
4. Are users signed into Excel using a work or school account, or a personal Microsoft account? 
5. What version of Excel are you currently using?  

Besides that, you can consider to hiding the Windows taskbar (as a workaround) by: 

• Going to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar. Then, you click on Taskbar behaviors. 
• Enable “Automatically hide the taskbar.” 

This feature will cause the taskbar to disappear when not in use and only reappear when you move your mouse to the bottom of the screen. So, it helps free up screen space and may prevent the black bar from overlapping Excel’s sheet tabs.  

Note: Please understand that our initial response does not always resolve the issue immediately. However, with your help and more detailed information, we can work together to find a solution.
Look forward to hearing you!

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Same issue here. Two separate sites, two different templates, both showing the Excel black bar. Timeline lines up with Richard and Alex. Infrastructure is nearly identical.

We’re running a Horizon desktop environment on Server 19 os.

Templates on Current Channel are affected. Semi-annual channel templates are fine.

Black bar shows up at the bottom of Excel, hiding sheet tabs. It’s intermittent but consistent enough to cause problems.

Already tried disabling hardware graphics acceleration, adjusting scaling and resolution, uninstalling and reinstalling Excel to the Monthly channel. Same result. It works for a couple of hours, then the issue comes back.

Anyone have a real fix or reliable workaround? Could just go back to semi-annual but copilot...

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