Have you ever worked in a public place where you don't want people around to peep and see your work? Sure, secrecy is part of any business, and excel offers some level of privacy. With Excel, you can hide selected rows from viewers. The hiding of rows is very important in concealing sensitive information and formulas. More so, you may wish to focus on important areas, so there is a need to hide unused cells and columns. Excel is very versatile, so this function can be done with ease so long you follow the right procedure. Follow me, let me walk you through the process of hiding your rows on excel.
In this tutorial, we will focus on three methods of hiding rows in excel:
- By using the Ribbon button
- Right-click menu
- By using keyboard short cut
Selection of rows
Firstly, identify the rows that wish to hide and select them. The selection is best made by clicking the heading of the row. If you want to hide many rows, you need to select all the rows that you wish to hide. Do this by using a mouse to click and drag across the head of all the rows. Alternatively, you can select all the rows by holding down the shift key and using the arrow keys to highlight all the rows.
In some cases, the rows you wish to hide may not be contiguous. In such cases, locate the heading of the first row and click it. Press and hold the Ctrl key while using your mouse to click the heads of all the rows you wish to select.
After a successful selection, proceed by following the procedures below:
By Using Ribbon short cut
This method is ideal for people who like to work with ribbons.
- Firstly, navigate to the 'home tab.'
- Proceed by selecting "cells group" and then the "Format button."
- Check the drop menu for "Visibility". Under "Visibility" points the cursor to "Hide and unhide." Go ahead by selecting "hide row."
There is an alternative method for doing this.
- Go to your "home tab"
- Click "Format" and then "Row height".
- Proceed by typing "0" in the box for "row height.'
The two ribbon methods will hide your selected rows immediately after you complete the procedure.
By using the right-click option
The ribbon method seems to be a little sloppy, but the right-click option is very fast. Now, after selecting your rows, press the right-click button.
Check the options, you will find "hide," select it and your selected rows will be hidden.
By using shortcut
The right-click option is quick, but this shortcut method is quicker. In this case, you can hide your rows by pressing Ctrl + 9.
You can unhide the hidden rows whenever you wish to. The procedure is the reverser process of hiding rows.
On the above screenshot row, 9-11 is hidden using ctrl +9.