How to Hide and Unhide Columns in Excel

Sometimes you might want to hide some of the columns in your Excel worksheet. This may be either:

To hide data that is used in calculations, or in a validation list, but does not need to be visible to the user,

To temporarily hide some columns the data, to make it easier to view or work on the remaining columns.

In both cases, you will also need to know how to unhide the hidden columns, when you need to view or work on them.

How to Hide Columns in Excel

If you want to hide one or more columns in Excel:

To select columns B & C, click on header "B" and drag across to header "C"

Select the column(s) to be hidden.

(Note, you can select one or more columns by selecting the column header(s) at the top of your worksheet - E.g. to select columns B and C, click on the header "B" and drag across to header "C").
Hide the selected columns by either:
- Using the mouse to right-click on the selected column(s) and then selecting Hide from the right-click menu.
or
- Selecting the option Format from the 'Cells' group of the Home tab on the Excel ribbon and, from within the 'Format' drop-down menu, selecting Hide & Unhide->Hide Columns.

Hide Columns Through Format Option on Ribbon

Select the columns that you want to unhide. You can do this by either:
- To select columns A-D (including hidden columns B & C, click on header "A" and drag across to header "D"
  
  Dragging across the headers of the columns at either side of the hidden column(s) - (E.g. If columns B and C are hidden, click on the header "A" and drag across to header "D" to select columns A-D).
or
- Clicking on the top left corner
  selects the entire worksheet
  
  Selecting the top left corner of the worksheet, to select the entire worksheet.
Unhide the selected columns by either:
- Using the mouse to right-click on the selected column(s) and then selecting Unhide from the right-click menu.
or
- Selecting the option Format from the 'Cells' group of the Home tab on the Excel ribbon and, from within the 'Format' drop-down menu, selecting Hide & Unhide->Unhide Columns.

Unhide Columns Through Format Option on Ribbon