Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated June 17, 2023)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365
I regularly hide and unhide columns in my worksheets. If I have an entire range of columns hidden, I find it a bother to unhide a single column out of all those hidden. For instance, I may hide columns C:M and want to later unhide column F. There are a number of ways this can be done:
There are a few other ways to unhide the column, as well, but (as I said) I find such approaches a bother. Unhiding either a single column or a range of columns is very easy to do through a spiffy little macro. Consider the following:
Sub UnhideSingleColumn() Dim Col As String Dim rng As Range StartHere: Col = InputBox("Enter column to unhide.", "Unhide Column") If Col = "" Then Exit Sub On Error Resume Next ' if not a valid range, an error occurs Set rng = ActiveSheet.Columns(Col) If Err.Number <> 0 Then On Error GoTo 0 Err.Clear MsgBox "Invalid input! Please input a valid column." GoTo StartHere End If rng.EntireColumn.Hidden = False MsgBox "Column " & UCase(Col) & " is now visible.", _ vbOKOnly, "Unhide Specified Column" Set rng = Nothing On Error GoTo 0 End Sub
The macro prompts the user for which column should be made visible, and then tries to select that column. If the column cannot be selected, then an error is generated and the user is again asked for input. If the column can be selected, then its .Hidden property is turned off, thereby making the column visible.
Note:
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (11471) 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: Unhiding a Single Column.
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