Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Hiding and Unhiding Rows.

Hiding and Unhiding Rows

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated October 15, 2022)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365

Excel allows you to easily hide a row, meaning it will not be shown on the display or printed when you print the worksheet. The row is not deleted; its height is simply reduced to 0. To hide a row, follow these steps:

  1. Select any cell in the row (or rows) you want to hide.
  2. Make sure the Home tab of the ribbon is displayed.
  3. In the Cells group, click the Format tool. Excel displays a number of formatting options.
  4. Click Hide & Unhide and then Hide Rows.

You can also hide rows by selecting those you want to hide, right-clicking on the selected rows, and choosing Hide from the resulting Context menu.

When you hide rows in a worksheet, you will notice that the other rows are not renumbered. Instead, a thick bar appears in the row header area (at the left side of the screen) to indicate that there are hidden rows at that point. You can unhide previously hidden rows by following these steps:

  1. Select the rows on both sides of those that are hidden. For instance, if rows 7 through 11 are hidden, select rows 6 and 12.
  2. Make sure the Home tab of the ribbon is displayed.
  3. In the Cells group, click the Format tool. Excel displays a number of formatting options.
  4. Click Hide & Unhide and then Unhide Rows.

You can also unhide rows by selecting the rows on both sides of those you want to unhide (see step 1 for an example), right-clicking on the selected rows, and choosing Unhide from the resulting Context menu.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (6292) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Hiding and Unhiding Rows.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Using Non-Printing Notes

Adding notes to your document in Word is a handy tool. But what if you don't want those notes to be seen on the screen or ...

Discover More

Saving a Document as a Web Page

Want to save your document as a Web page? It's easy to do in Word; almost as easy as saving your document normally.

Discover More

Magnifying Only the Current Cell

You can use the Zoom feature of Excel to magnify what Excel shows of your workbook, but it affects the entire screen. ...

Discover More

Dive Deep into Macros! Make Excel do things you thought were impossible, discover techniques you won't find anywhere else, and create powerful automated reports. Bill Jelen and Tracy Syrstad help you instantly visualize information to make it actionable. You’ll find step-by-step instructions, real-world case studies, and 50 workbooks packed with examples and solutions. Check out Microsoft Excel 2019 VBA and Macros today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Increasing Row Height for Printing

You may have a need to increase the height of the rows in your worksheet to "spread out" the data when it is printed. ...

Discover More

Setting Row Height

When you enter information into a row on a worksheet, Excel automatically adjusts the height of the row based on what you ...

Discover More

Adjusting Row Height when Wrapping Text

If you have some cells merged in a worksheet, and you wrap text within that merged cell, Excel won't automatically resize ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is seven more than 3?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.

Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2025 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.