How to Hide Columns in Google Sheets

You can hide a row or column in Google Sheets by selecting the row number or column letter, then right-clicking on it and choosing Hide row or Hide column.

Spreadsheet applications like Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets can sometimes contain data that people don’t need to see. Whether it’s something like notes or data that are being used in formulas, your readers might not need it.

By hiding columns or rows in a Google spreadsheet, you can make it more difficult for people to access that information, meaning that it’s unlikely that they will make accidental changes or deletions. It also allows you to hide data that is unimportant or irrelevant to your audience, thereby ensuring that their attention is focused on the more important data.

The sections below cover hiding individual rows or columns, hiding multiple rows or columns, and protecting and hiding ranges from other people with editing permissions.

How to Hide Rows and Columns in a Google Spreadsheet

1. Open your Sheets file.
2. Select the column or row to hide.
3. Right-click on the selection.
4. Choose Hide row or Hide column.

How to Hide Columns or Rows in Google Sheets (with Pictures)

The steps in this article were performed in the desktop version of the Google Chrome Web browser but will also work in other desktop Web browsers like Mozilla Firefox or Apple Safari.

1. Sign in to Google Sheets at https://sheets.google.com and open the file that contains the rows or columns you want to hide.
2. Click on the row number or column letter that you wish to hide. Row numbers appear on the left side of the spreadsheet, while column letters appear at the top. Clicking one selects the entire row or column.

3. Right-click on the selected row or column and choose the Hide row or Hide column option.

How to Hide Columns from Certain Users in Google Sheets

If you are hiding columns or rows in your spreadsheet because there are other people that have access to your Google Sheets file and you don’t want them to edit or delete anything, then you need to approach this in a different manner.

While hidden rows and columns can’t be seen easily, you can tell that they are hidden because the row numbering or column lettering skips the range of the hidden rows or columns. Anyone can unhide those hidden ranges if they want to delete or change something.

Instead, you are going to need to protect the row or column first, then hide them.

You can protect a range in Google Sheets with the following steps.

1. Open the Sheets file.
2. Select the columns or rows.
3. Click Data at the top of the window.
4. Choose Protect sheets and ranges.
5. Click the Set Permissions button.
6. Choose Restrict who can edit this range.
7. Uncheck the people that you don’t want editing your rows or columns.
8. Click Done.
9. Hide the rows or columns you just protected.

More Information on How to Hide Cells in Google Sheets

If you have a lot of rows or columns that you want to hide in your spreadsheet then you can use the same method for doing that as well. You can click on the first row or column that you want to hide, hold down the Shift key, then click the last row or column. This selects everything from the first to the last row or column. You can then right-click on the selection and choose the Hide option.

Alternatively, you can hold down the Ctrl key (or Command on a Mac) and click non-adjacent rows or columns as well. This is preferable if you don’t need to hide a large range of connected rows or columns.

If you want to unhide rows or columns that you have hidden then you need to click on the arrows on the row numbers or letter columns where those hidden ranges are. This will display them again. You can also select the rows or columns that surround the hidden ones, then right-click on them and choose the Unhide option.

Shortcuts, unused columns and the mobile app

• Keyboard shortcut: select the columns and press Ctrl + Alt + 0 (Cmd + Option + 0 on a Mac). For rows, use Ctrl + Alt + 9. To unhide, select the columns on both sides and press Ctrl + Shift + 0. Windows sometimes reserves that unhide shortcut, so right-click and choose Unhide columns if nothing happens.
• Hide every unused column: click the header of the first empty column, press Ctrl + Shift + Right Arrow to select everything to the end, then right-click and select Hide columns. The sheet then looks like it ends where your data ends.
• Collapse instead of hide: select the columns, right-click, select View more column actions > Group columns. A small minus button appears above them so anyone can collapse and expand the group with one click.
• On a phone or tablet: in the Google Sheets app, tap the column letter, then tap it again or tap the arrow to open the menu, and choose Hide column. Tap the arrows that appear in its place to show it again.

If hiding or unhiding doesn’t work

• You don’t see Hide column. Right-click the column letter itself, not a cell. Hide column only shows when a whole column is selected.
• You can’t find the hidden column. Look for small arrows between two column letters, such as between C and E. Click either arrow to show the column again.
• The option is grayed out. You may only have view or comment access. Ask the owner for edit access.
• Someone keeps unhiding your columns. Anyone who can edit the sheet can unhide them. Protect the range as described above, or share a view-only copy.

Frequently asked questions

Does hiding a column delete its data?

No. The data stays in the sheet, and formulas that use it keep working. It’s only hidden from view.

Will hidden columns print?

No. Hidden columns and rows are left out when you print or download the sheet as a PDF.

Working with Excel files too? You can open an Excel file in Google Sheets or download a Google Sheet as an Excel file.