Hiding Columns and Rows

Hiding Columns and Rows

If you're having trouble fitting your worksheet on the desired number of pages, or you want to prevent someone viewing the printout from seeing some confidential data, you can hide selected columns or rows. To hide columns or rows and prevent Excel from printing them, follow these steps:

1. Drag over the column or row headers for the columns or rows you want to hide.

2. Open the Format menu and select Column , Hide or Row , Hide . (Alternatively, right-click one of the selected columns or rows and select Hide from the context menu.) The selected columns or rows disappear, and a dark line appears on the worksheet to indicate that rows or columns are hidden.

3. Click the Print Preview button. Excel displays the worksheet, omitting the hidden columns or rows.

Bringing hidden rows or columns back into view isn't the most intuitive operation. First, drag over the column or row headings before and after the hidden columns and rows. If columns C, D, and E are hidden, for example, drag over column headings B and F to select them. Open the Format menu and select Columns , Unhide or Rows , Unhide .

Tip

People viewing your worksheet in Excel can tell when columns are hidden by noticing that one or more column letters do not appear. They can then unhide the columns by performing the preceding steps. To prevent them from viewing hidden columns, you must password-protect your worksheet as explained later in this chapter, in the section called "Preventing Unauthorized Changes to a Workbook."