diff --git a/docs/architecture/ribbon.md b/docs/architecture/ribbon.md
index be83264..69efed9 100644
--- a/docs/architecture/ribbon.md
+++ b/docs/architecture/ribbon.md
@@ -53,6 +53,15 @@ The band's height never changes: it scrolls horizontally with a hidden scrollbar
 collapsing groups into popovers the way Word does when the window narrows. That is the single
 biggest simplification here, and the reason two things below are necessary.
 
+A chevron in the tab strip drops the band entirely, leaving the strip (`odf-editor-ribbon-collapsed`).
+Clicking any tab brings it back — Word instead floats it over the document until the next click
+lands in the text, which is the part not built.
+
+Word puts that chevron in the band's bottom-right corner, and this one did too. Both ways of
+reserving that corner failed: as a layer it covered whichever group's dialog launcher reached the
+edge, and since the band scrolls, which one that is varies; in the flow it cost the band a column
+at every height. A flex row cannot reserve width in part of its height, so it moved to the strip.
+
 - **A menu must leave the flow.** `.ribbon-body` clips its own overflow, so the `anchored` action
   (`ribbon/menu.svelte.ts`) switches a panel to `position: fixed` and pins it under its wrapper,
   clamped inside the window. Panels drop below the **whole band**, not below their own button —
diff --git a/src/lib/components/ribbon/Ribbon.svelte b/src/lib/components/ribbon/Ribbon.svelte
index 50a8133..78e306e 100644
--- a/src/lib/components/ribbon/Ribbon.svelte
+++ b/src/lib/components/ribbon/Ribbon.svelte
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
   import { t } from '../../i18n/i18n.svelte';
   import { withShortcut } from '../../i18n/shortcut';
   import { shortcutHint } from '../../editor/shortcuts';
-  import type { ChromeMode, ThemeMode } from '../../storage/theme';
+  import { loadRibbonCollapsed, saveRibbonCollapsed, type ChromeMode, type ThemeMode } from '../../storage/theme';
   import type { StyleFamily } from '../../styles/styleSheet';
   import { DEFAULT_MARGINS, type PageMargins } from '../../storage/pageMargins';
   import type { Orientation } from '../../storage/pageOrientation';
@@ -130,6 +130,9 @@
   let paragraphDialogOpen = $state(false);
   let tabsDialogOpen = $state(false);
 
+  let collapsed = $state(loadRibbonCollapsed());
+  $effect(() => saveRibbonCollapsed(collapsed));
+
   function run(fn?: () => void) {
     closeMenu();
     fn?.();
@@ -202,7 +205,7 @@
         class="ribbon-tab"
         class:active={tab === id}
         class:contextual={!(TABS as readonly string[]).includes(id)}
-        onclick={() => (tab = id)}
+        onclick={() => { tab = id; collapsed = false; }}
       >
         {t().ribbon.tabs[id]}
       </button>
@@ -225,6 +228,20 @@
       <span class="doc-name-ext">.odt</span>
     </div>
 
+    <!-- Word puts this chevron in the band's corner. Here it rides the strip: in
+         the corner it covered whichever group's dialog launcher reached the edge,
+         and reserving that corner costs the band a column at every height. -->
+    <button
+      class="qa-btn rb-collapse"
+      class:rb-collapse-up={!collapsed}
+      onclick={() => (collapsed = !collapsed)}
+      title={collapsed ? t().ribbon.expand : t().ribbon.collapse}
+      aria-label={collapsed ? t().ribbon.expand : t().ribbon.collapse}
+      aria-expanded={!collapsed}
+    >
+      <Icon name="chevronDown" size={16} />
+    </button>
+
     <div class="appearance-wrap" use:clickOutside={'appearance'}>
       <button
         class="qa-btn"
@@ -259,6 +276,7 @@
     <UiLanguagePicker />
   </div>
 
+  {#if !collapsed}
   <div class="ribbon-body" use:pinPanels>
     {#if tab === 'home'}
       <HomeTab {editor} {tick} bind:showFormattingMarks {onManageStyles} {onFind} onParagraphDialog={() => (paragraphDialogOpen = true)} />
@@ -287,6 +305,7 @@
       />
     {/if}
   </div>
+  {/if}
 
   <ParagraphDialog bind:open={paragraphDialogOpen} {editor} {tick} onTabs={() => (tabsDialogOpen = true)} />
   <TabsDialog bind:open={tabsDialogOpen} {editor} {tick} bind:tabIntervalCm />
@@ -319,6 +338,10 @@
     user-select: none;
   }
 
+  /* Points down to bring the band back, up to send it away. */
+  .rb-collapse :global(svg) { transition: transform 0.12s ease; }
+  .rb-collapse-up :global(svg) { transform: rotate(180deg); }
+
   /* Those pickers frame their trigger for the classic toolbar's tinted island. A
      ribbon row is borderless icon buttons, so the frame comes off and the hover
      tint takes over — same 30px box as .rb-icon, so a row reads as one strip. */
diff --git a/src/lib/i18n/locales/de.ts b/src/lib/i18n/locales/de.ts
index 64a51ea..2061d31 100644
--- a/src/lib/i18n/locales/de.ts
+++ b/src/lib/i18n/locales/de.ts
@@ -474,6 +474,8 @@ const de: Messages = {
       shapeFormat: 'Formformat',
     },
     saveAs: 'Speichern unter…',
+    collapse: 'Menüband minimieren',
+    expand: 'Menüband erweitern',
     export: 'Exportieren',
     find: 'Suchen',
     replace: 'Ersetzen',
diff --git a/src/lib/i18n/locales/en.ts b/src/lib/i18n/locales/en.ts
index 3418b39..15acb9f 100644
--- a/src/lib/i18n/locales/en.ts
+++ b/src/lib/i18n/locales/en.ts
@@ -478,6 +478,8 @@ const en = {
       shapeFormat: 'Shape Format',
     },
     saveAs: 'Save as…',
+    collapse: 'Collapse the ribbon',
+    expand: 'Expand the ribbon',
     export: 'Export',
     find: 'Find',
     replace: 'Replace',
diff --git a/src/lib/storage/CLAUDE.md b/src/lib/storage/CLAUDE.md
index 1827aa1..747c030 100644
--- a/src/lib/storage/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/src/lib/storage/CLAUDE.md
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ Both margins and orientation are passed into the ODT export so the exported docu
 - **Theme:** `odf-editor-theme` — `'light' | 'dark' | 'allBlack' | 'auto'`.
 - **Toolbar expanded:** `odf-editor-toolbar-expanded` — boolean string.
 - **Chrome:** `odf-editor-chrome` — `'classic' | 'ribbon'`; absent = classic.
+- **Ribbon collapsed:** `odf-editor-ribbon-collapsed` — boolean string; absent = expanded.
 - **Formatting marks:** `odf-editor-formatting-marks` — boolean string.
 - **Ruler:** `odf-editor-ruler` — boolean string; absent = on.
 - **Zoom:** `odf-editor-zoom` — integer percent.
diff --git a/src/lib/storage/theme.ts b/src/lib/storage/theme.ts
index 878dd3a..d4a46e3 100644
--- a/src/lib/storage/theme.ts
+++ b/src/lib/storage/theme.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ export type ChromeMode = 'classic' | 'ribbon';
 const THEME_KEY = 'odf-editor-theme';
 const TOOLBAR_KEY = 'odf-editor-toolbar-expanded';
 const CHROME_KEY = 'odf-editor-chrome';
+const RIBBON_COLLAPSED_KEY = 'odf-editor-ribbon-collapsed';
 const FORMATTING_MARKS_KEY = 'odf-editor-formatting-marks';
 const RULER_KEY = 'odf-editor-ruler';
 
@@ -36,6 +37,14 @@ export function saveChromeMode(mode: ChromeMode): void {
     localStorage.setItem(CHROME_KEY, mode);
 }
 
+export function loadRibbonCollapsed(): boolean {
+    return localStorage.getItem(RIBBON_COLLAPSED_KEY) === 'true';
+}
+
+export function saveRibbonCollapsed(collapsed: boolean): void {
+    localStorage.setItem(RIBBON_COLLAPSED_KEY, String(collapsed));
+}
+
 export function loadFormattingMarks(): boolean {
     return localStorage.getItem(FORMATTING_MARKS_KEY) === 'true';
 }