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

Creating a Spelling Exclusion List

Don't like it when Word always says a word is spelled right and you know that it isn't? Here's how you can fine-tune the ...

Discover More

Maintaining Formatting when Refreshing PivotTables

When you refresh the data in a PivotTable, Excel can play havoc with whatever formatting you applied. Here's how to ...

Discover More

Develop Macros in Their Own Workbook

If you develop macros and edit them quite a bit, you may be running the risk of causing problems with the macros or with ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 365 applications with VBA programming. Written in clear terms and understandable language, the book includes systematic tutorials and contains both intermediate and advanced content for experienced VB developers. Designed to be comprehensive, the book addresses not just one Office application, but the entire Office suite. Check out Mastering VBA for Microsoft Office 365 today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Hiding a Huge Number of Rows

Need to hide a large number of rows? It's easy to do if you combine a few keyboard shortcuts. Here are several techniques ...

Discover More

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

Adjusting to a Maximum Row Height

Need to check the height of all the rows in a worksheet and then adjust them if a particular criterion is met? This tip ...

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.

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 two more than 4?

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.