Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, 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 Outline Symbols.
Once you go through the process of outlining your data, you may want to hide the outline symbols that Excel normally displays at the left of the worksheet area. These symbols are helpful as you are working with the data but may be distracting if you are presenting the data to others. To turn off the symbols, follow these steps:
Figure 1. The Advanced options of the Excel Options dialog box.
To again display the symbols, follow the same steps, but make sure the Show Outline Symbols check box is selected.
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (9269) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Excel in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Hiding Outline Symbols.
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Outlining, a feature built into Excel, can be a great way to help organize large amounts of data. This tip provides an ...
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2026-06-12 10:24:27
J. Woolley
Outline symbols are controlled by the worksheet’s Window.DisplayOutline property. For the active worksheet, the following VBA statement will toggle them ON/OFF:
ActiveWindow.DisplayOutline = Not ActiveWindow.DisplayOutline
My Excel Toolbox includes the WindowDressing macro which will toggle several such properties for the active worksheet or all worksheets in the active workbook. A screenshot is included in my 2022 comment here: https://excelribbon.tips.net/T009308
See https://sites.google.com/view/MyExcelToolbox
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.
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Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, 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: 
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