How to Unhide a Chart in Excel

To unhide a chart in Excel, go to Home > Find & Select > Selection Pane (or press Alt + F10). Find the chart in the list and click the closed-eye icon next to it, or click Show All. If the chart is on its own sheet, right-click any sheet tab and choose Unhide instead. A chart can also seem to vanish because all objects are hidden in Excel’s options, or because its data is in hidden rows. Here’s how to fix each case.

Method 1: The Selection Pane

1. Go to the sheet where the chart should be.
2. Click Home > Find & Select > Selection Pane, or press Alt + F10.
3. The pane lists every chart, shape and picture on the sheet. Hidden ones show a closed-eye icon.
4. Click the eye icon next to the chart to show it, or click Show All.

The Selection Pane is also the quickest way to find a chart that’s tiny, stacked under another object, or far off-screen. Click its name to select it, then drag or resize it. Double-click a name to rename it, which helps on busy sheets.

Method 2: Unhide a chart sheet

Charts moved to their own tab are chart sheets, and they can be hidden like any other sheet.

1. Right-click any sheet tab at the bottom.
2. Choose Unhide.
3. Select the chart sheet and click OK. In Microsoft 365, you can select several at once.

If Unhide is greyed out, no sheets are hidden. If the workbook is protected, go to Review > Protect Workbook to unprotect it first.

Method 3: Objects are hidden in Excel’s options

If every chart and picture has disappeared, the workbook may be set to hide all objects:

1. Go to File > Options > Advanced.
2. Scroll to Display options for this workbook.
3. Under For objects, show, choose All.
4. Click OK.

Method 4: The chart is blank because its data is hidden

By default, a chart doesn’t plot data from hidden rows or columns. If you hid or filtered the data, the chart can appear empty.

1. Click the chart.
2. Go to Chart Design > Select Data.
3. Click Hidden and Empty Cells at the bottom left.
4. Tick Show data in hidden rows and columns and click OK twice.

Method 5: The chart is inside collapsed rows

If the chart sits over rows or columns that are hidden or grouped and collapsed, and it’s set to move and size with cells, it shrinks to nothing. Unhide the rows (select the surrounding rows, right-click and choose Unhide) or expand the group with the + button.

To stop it happening again, right-click the chart border, choose Format Chart Area, open Size & Properties > Properties, and choose Don’t move or size with cells.

How to hide a chart on purpose

• In the Selection Pane, click the eye icon next to the chart.
• Or move it to its own chart sheet (Chart Design > Move Chart > New sheet) and hide that sheet.

Still missing?

• Press Ctrl + Z if you deleted it by accident in this session.
• If the file was saved since, check File > Info > Version History for files in OneDrive or SharePoint.
• Zoom out with the zoom slider to look for a chart that’s far from your data. See how to change the zoom level in Excel.

Related guides

• How to edit a graph in Excel
• How to add multiple data sets to a graph
• How to copy a graph from Excel to Word

Summary

1. Open the Selection Pane with Alt + F10 and click the eye icon or Show All.
2. Right-click a sheet tab and choose Unhide for chart sheets.
3. Set For objects, show to All in Excel’s Advanced options.
4. Turn on Show data in hidden rows and columns if the chart is blank.

Matt Jacobs

Matt Jacobs has been working as an IT consultant for small businesses since receiving his Master’s degree in 2003. While he still does some consulting work, his primary focus now is on creating technology support content for SupportYourTech.com.

His work can be found on many websites and focuses on topics such as Microsoft Office, Apple devices, Android devices, Photoshop, and more.