Microsoft Excel 2008

Hiding Columns, Rows, and Cells

At times, there may be information in your worksheet which you no longer need to see. At other times, you might be printing your worksheet and want to print only columns A-F and columns H-J, skipping column G. Rather than rearrange your worksheet for either of these examples, you can simply hide the information. You can also hide information in specific cells.

Hiding Columns
Redisplaying Columns
Hiding Rows
Redisplaying Rows
Hiding Cell Contents

Hiding Columns

You can hide columns of your worksheet containing information that you do not need to view or do not want to print.

Select a cell within the column(s) to be hidden
From the Format menu, select Column » Hide
The column is hidden.

Hiding Columns: Quick Menu Option

Windows: Right click the column ID » select Hide
Macintosh: Press [control] and click the column ID » select Hide

Redisplaying Columns

Select at least one cell from both of the columns around the hidden column(s) to be redisplayed,
EXAMPLE: If column B is hidden, select a cell from both columns A and C.
HINT: If you cannot select the appropriate cells, you can use the Go To command.
From the Format menu, select Column » Unhide
The column reappears.

Redisplaying Columns: Quick Menu Option

This option works well for redisplaying column A, since there are not columns on both sides of column A.

Hold your cursor between column IDs on the side of the hidden column
The cursor will change to an open, double sided arrow as shown here.
Windows: Right click » select Unhide
Macintosh: Press [control] and click » select Unhide

Hiding Rows

If there is information on your worksheet you do not need to see or if you want to print only certain rows, you can hide those rows you do not want to see or print.

Select a cell within the row(s) to be hidden
From the Format menu, select Row » Hide
The row is hidden.

Hiding Rows: Quick Menu Option

Windows: Right click the row ID » select Hide
Macintosh: Press [control] and click the row ID » select Hide
The row is hidden.

Redisplaying Rows

Select at least one cell from both of the rows around the hidden row(s) to be redisplayed
EXAMPLE: If row 5 is hidden, select a cell from rows 4 and 6.
HINT: If you cannot select the appropriate cells, you can use the Go To command.
From the Format menu, select Row » Unhide
The row reappears.

Redisplaying Rows: Quick Menu Option

This option works well for redisplaying row 1, since there are not rows on both sides of row 1.

Hold your cursor between row IDs on the side of the hidden row
The cursor will change to an open, double sided arrow as shown here.
Windows: Right click » select Unhide
Macintosh: Press [control] and click » select Unhide

Hiding Cell Contents

You have the ability to hide the contents of individual cells if you do not need to view their contents or you simply do not want to print certain cells.

Select the cell(s) to be hidden
From the Format menu, select Cells...
The Format Cells dialog box appears.
Select the Number tab
Under Category, select Custom
In the Type text box, type three semicolons ( ;;; )
Click OK
The cells are now hidden.

To redisplay cell information:

Select the cell(s) to be redisplayed
From the Format menu, select Cells...
The Format Cells dialog box appears.
Select the Number tab
Under Category, select the appropriate date, time, or number format
Click OK
The cell(s) reappear.