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

Connor Otterbeck 0 Reputation points
2025-08-11T09:53:40.88+00:00

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In Excel within Citrix, a black bar appears at the bottom of the window, obscuring the sheet tabs. This issue occurs across multiple workbooks and machines, making it difficult, but not impossible, to navigate between sheets.

I have attached a screen capture from one of our users that shows the issue.

I am not exactly sure on the steps to reproduce as it seems to happen at random when switching between applications within Citrix.

This is happening since last week but is not affecting all the users at once across our business.

To attempt to fix this issue we have:

  • Disabled hardware graphics acceleration.
  • Verified no third-party add-ins are installed.
  • Adjusted display scaling and resolution.

Any help would be appreciated.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For business | Windows
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  1. Tina L 1,605 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2025-08-11T14:46:30.02+00:00

    Hello @Connor Otterbeck, 
    Thank you for confirming. 

    Based on the screenshot you provided, I can confirm that the black bar is not part of the Windows taskbar, but it does overlap with it, indicating a rendering issue from Citrix VDA, which is a component provided by Microsoft in virtualized environments. 

    As I mentioned earlier, in my role as a community moderator, I have limited access to backend systems (especially third- party).  

    However, I found a similar case in the Citrix community. While it’s not exactly the same, it involves the same version and display-related behavior when using multiple monitors. This suggests the issue may stem from changes in the graphics engine introduced in Citrix VDA 2402. 

    Citrix VDA 2402 LTSR CU 2 Apps Window goes black when moved to 2nd monitor - Virtual Apps and Desktops - Citrix Community 

    Note: Microsoft is providing this information as a convenience to you. The sites are not controlled by Microsoft. Microsoft cannot make any representations regarding the quality, safety, or suitability of any software or information found there. Please make sure that you completely understand the risk before retrieving any suggestions from the above link 

    For that reason, I only can help you suggest some workarounds you can try: 

    1. Resize or Minimize/Maximize the Excel window: 

    • After switching the application to the second monitor, try minimizing and then restoring the Excel window. 

    This forces Citrix to redraw the interface, which may remove the black bar. 

    Additionally, full-screen mode tends to trigger rendering issues more frequently. So, you also avoid launching Excel in full-screen mode by opening Excel in windowed mode, then dragging it to the second monitor. 

    2. Enable Snap Layouts in Windows 11: 

    You can go to Settings > System > Multitasking > Snap windows 

    image

    Then, you enable: “Show snap layouts when I drag a window to the top of my screen” 

    This may help mitigate the black bar issue in Excel by forcing Citrix to redraw the application interface, which can eliminate incorrectly rendered areas; such as the black bar covering the sheet tabs. 

    Besides that, I understand this issue is impacting your workflow. To help you continue working while we investigate further, you might consider using the following shortcut: 

    • You can press Ctrl + Page Up / Page Down to navigate between sheets when the tabs are obscured. 

    This can help you switch between sheets even if the sheet tabs are hidden by the black bar and may improve your productivity in the meantime. 

     

    If you'd still like to double-check where the issue originates, I strongly encourage you to raise a support ticket via 365 Admin Center Portal so our technical team can investigate it in more detail. If the issue is confirmed to be on our side, they have the tools and access needed to resolve it thoroughly. 

    • You can go to 365 Admin Center Portal 
    • You can raise a support ticket by going to the Support section => New Service Request. In the description, you mention clearly your request. 

      User's image

    Once the ticket opens, a technical support technician can conduct a remote session to investigate the situation, review the backend configurations, and run the necessary synchronization tools to resolve the issue. If further intervention is required, they can refer the matter to a specialized team for in-depth analysis.       

    Note: If you are an end- user, please contact your IT admin to follow these steps. Thank you for confirming. 

    If you find this information helpful, please consider marking it as an answer. Once marked, it will automatically pin to top. As other users will also search information in this community, your valuable marked answer will definitely also help other users who have similar queries easily to find the correct channel and useful information more quickly.  0 Accept answer v 1 answer PO

    Please feel free to let me know if there’s anything I can help with. 

    Looking forward to hearing from you! 

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  1. Tina L 1,605 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2025-08-11T11:14:25.7733333+00:00

    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? 

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

    image

     

    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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