Quickly Hide Excel Rows and Columns

Quickly Hide Excel Rows and Columns

In some of my Excel workbooks there are calculation rows or columns that are required for producing the end result, but users don’t need to see them.

I can manually hide these rows and columns, then unhide them if I need to check a calculation, or adjust a formula.

To make it easy to hide things, I mark the rows and columns with an X.

In row 1, the only entries are the X marks on the columns that should be hidden. In column A, the only entries are the X marks on the rows that should be hidden.

Select the marked columns

Click the row button for row 1, to select the entire row.

On the Ribbon, click the Home button

In the Editing group, click Find & Select, then click Go To Special

(Note: In Excel 2003 and earlier versions, click Edit > Go To, then click the Special button)

In the Go To Special dialog box, click Constants

Uncheck all the boxes except Text, then click OK

Hide the Marked Columns

With the marked columns selected, click the Format command on the Ribbon’s Home tab

Click Hide & Unhide, then click Hide Columns.

Note: In Excel 2003 and earlier versions, click Format> Column > Hide.

Hide the Marked Rows

Use similar steps to hide the marked rows. Select column A and go to the Constants that are text, then use the Hide Rows command.

Automate the Steps

If you frequently hide and unhide the columns and rows, record a macro as your perform the steps. Then, run that macro to automatically hide all the marked rows and columns.