The latest articles on DEV Community by Eric (@academiceric). https://dev.to/academiceric https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F3942591%2F2eca1f79-47fc-4459-97b9-cf735b74d135.png https://dev.to/academiceric en Eric Tue, 14 Jul 2026 15:06:47 +0000 https://dev.to/academiceric/how-to-hide-or-unhide-columns-or-rows-in-microsoft-excel-ah9 https://dev.to/academiceric/how-to-hide-or-unhide-columns-or-rows-in-microsoft-excel-ah9 <p>** How to Hide (and Unhide) Columns in Excel Without Losing Your Mind**</p> <p>We've all been there: a spreadsheet with 30 columns, and you only care about five of them right now. Deleting the rest feels wrong (what if you need them later?), and scrolling forever feels worse. The answer is hiding columns — and it takes about five seconds once you know where to click.</p> <p>Here's the trick that trips people up: <strong>you have to click the column <em>letter</em>, not a cell inside it.</strong> If you right-click a cell, Excel gives you a totally different menu (Cut, Copy, Insert, that kind of thing) with no Hide option in sight. Click the letter at the very top of the sheet — the "A," "B," "C" row — and you'll get the column-specific menu instead.</p> <h2> Hiding Columns </h2> <ol> <li>Click the letter of the column you want to hide. <ul> <li>Want to hide several in a row? Click the first letter, then drag across to the last one.</li> <li>Want to hide a few that <em>aren't</em> next to each other? Hold <strong>⌘</strong> (Mac) or <strong>Ctrl</strong> (Windows) and click each letter individually.</li> </ul> </li> <li>Right-click on your selection.</li> <li>Choose <strong>Hide Columns</strong>.</li> </ol> <p>That's it. The column vanishes, but nothing is deleted — the data's just tucked out of sight.</p> <h2> Unhiding Columns </h2> <p>This is the part people usually get stuck on, because there's no column letter to click when the column itself is invisible. The trick is to select the columns <em>around</em> the hidden one.</p> <ol> <li>Click the column letter just before the gap.</li> <li>Hold <strong>Shift</strong> and click the column letter just after the gap.</li> <li>Right-click anywhere in that selection.</li> <li>Choose <strong>Unhide Columns</strong>.</li> </ol> <h2> One Handy Tip </h2> <p>Not sure if you've got a hidden column somewhere? Look closely at the column letters along the top. A hidden column leaves a subtle tell: you'll see something like <strong>D | F</strong>, with no E in between, and the line separating them is just a touch thicker than usual. Once you know what to look for, it's easy to spot.</p> <p>And that's genuinely it — no plugins, no formulas, just two clicks and a right-click. Small trick, but it makes messy spreadsheets a lot easier to live with.</p> datascience microsoft365 analyst