top of page

You are learning The Excel Interface

How do I hide or unhide rows and columns?

Excelling at hiding and unhiding rows and columns can help you clean up your spreadsheet and focus on the most important data. Here's how you can do it:

Hiding Rows or Columns:

There are three ways to hide rows or columns:

1. Right-click method:
- Select the row(s) or column(s) you want to hide.
- Right-click anywhere on the selection.
- Choose "Hide" from the context menu.

2. Shortcut method:
- Select the row(s) or column(s) you want to hide.
- Use the keyboard shortcut:
- For rows: Press `Ctrl + 9` (Windows) or `Command + 9` (Mac).
- For columns: Press `Ctrl + 0` (Windows) or `Command + 0` (Mac).

3. Ribbon method:
- Select the row(s) or column(s) you want to hide.
- Go to the "Home" tab on the Excel ribbon.
- In the "Cells" group, click the "Format" dropdown arrow.
- Under "Visibility," choose "Hide Rows" or "Hide Columns" depending on your selection.

Unhiding Rows or Columns:

There are two ways to unhide rows or columns:

1. Clicking the double line: Look at the edges between rows or columns. Where a row or column is hidden, you'll see a double line instead of a single line separating the rows/columns. Click on this double line anywhere along its length to unhide the hidden row(s) or column(s).

2. Ribbon method:
- Select the row(s) or column(s) bordering the hidden area (the rows/columns next to where you want to unhide).
- Go to the "Home" tab on the Excel ribbon.
- In the "Cells" group, click the "Format" dropdown arrow.
- Under "Visibility," choose "Unhide Rows" or "Unhide Columns" depending on what you want to unhide.

Tips:

* To unhide all hidden rows or columns, press `Ctrl + Shift + 9` (Windows) or `Command + Shift + 9` (Mac) to unhide all rows and `Ctrl + Shift + 0` (Windows) or `Command + Shift + 0` (Mac) to unhide all columns.
* Be careful when hiding rows or columns, especially if you have formulas that reference hidden cells. Those formulas may not work correctly until the hidden rows/columns are unhidden.

bottom of page