MS-Excel / General Formatting

Hiding columns and rows

Another way to take the clutter out of a worksheet is to temporarily hide columns and rows:

  • Hiding columns or rows: Drag over the column letters or row numbers of the columns or rows that you want to hide. Dragging this way selects entire columns or rows. Then click the Format button on the Home tab, choose Hide & Unhide, and choose Hide Columns or Hide Rows.
  • Unhiding columns and rows: Select columns to the right and left of the hidden columns, or select rows above and below the hidden rows. To select columns or rows, drag over their letters or numbers. Then click the Format button on the Home tab, choose Hide & Unhide, and choose Unhide Columns or Unhide Rows.

It's easy to forget where you hid columns or rows. To make sure all columns and rows in your worksheet are displayed, click the Select All button (or press Ctrl+A) to select your entire worksheet. Then click the Format button and choose Hide & Unhide → Unhide Columns; click the Format button again and choose Hide & Unhide → Unhide Rows.

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In this tutorial:

  1. Refining Excel Worksheet
  2. Editing Worksheet Data
  3. Moving Around in a Worksheet
  4. Better Look at the Worksheet
  5. Freezing and splitting columns and rows
  6. Your own customized views
  7. Hiding columns and rows
  8. Comments for Documenting Your Worksheet
  9. Selecting Cells in a Worksheet
  10. Deleting, Copying, and Moving Data
  11. Handling the Worksheets in a Workbook
  12. Tampering with Worksheets
  13. Hiding a worksheet
  14. Protecting a worksheet