You may not always need all the columns that have unsightly data or extra columns that are empty. In such cases, you can easily hide columns in Google Sheets.
And there are many ways to do it.
In this Google spreadsheet hide columns tutorial, I will show you all the ways you can hide columns.
Table of Contents
The Google Sheets Hide Columns Shortcut
If you are a keyboard person like me and prefer using a lot of shortcuts (instead of switching between the mouse and keyboard), this one is for you.
To hide a column in Windows (or a range of columns), select the column(s) and use the below shortcut:
CONTROL + ALT + 0 (hold the Contorl and ALT keys and then press 0)
For macOS, use the following shortcut instead:
Command + Option + 0
When you use this shortcut, all the selected rows or columns will be hidden.
How To Hide Columns in Google Sheets With a Right-Click
Another quick method to hide columns in Google Sheets is using a simple right-click method. You simply have to select the columns, right-click them, and select Hide column(s).
Below are the steps to hide a column in Google Sheets:
- Select the entire column (or columns) you want to hide. To do this, click on the column header at the top of the working area
- Right-click anywhere in the column
- Click on ‘Hide Column’
The above steps would hide the selected column.
The above steps also work for a range of columns, grouped rows and columns, and even non-contiguous columns.
For example, if you want to hide columns D and G, hold the shift key on the keyboard and select both these columns using the mouse. Once selected, right-click on any of the columns and click on ‘Hide Columns’
Hide Unused Columns In Google Sheets
If you don’t want unused rows and columns to be visible in the Google Sheets worksheet, you can easily hide these.
Below are the steps to hide unused columns in Google Sheets:
- Select the first column next to the last used column. You need to select the entire column by clicking on the column header at the top.
- Hold the CONTROL and SHIFT keys and press the right-arrow key. This will select all the unused columns.
- Right-click on any of the selected columns and click on the Hide Columns E-Z option (in your case, it may show different column alphabets based on what columns you have selected.
In Step 3, you can also use the keyboard shortcut CONTROL + ALT + 0 to hide all the selected columns.
You can also use the same methodology to hide unused rows as well.
Hiding Columns in Google Sheets With the Help Menu
You can also hide columns with the help menu. All you have to do is:
- Highlight the columns you wish to hide in the headers
- Navigate to Help in the Sheet menu
- Type “hide” and press Enter
Unhide Columns In Google Sheets
After you hide a column or range of columns, you can easily unhide these using a single click.
Below is an example where I have hidden Column B, and you will notice small double-pointed arrows between columns A and C. This visually indicates that there is a Google Sheets hidden column(s) between the two columns.
To unhide a column, simply click one of the arrow icons, and it will show all the columns that are hidden in between the two columns.
You can also use keyboard shortcuts to unhide columns in Google Sheets.
To unhide a column in Windows (or a range of columns), select the column(s) and use the below shortcut:
CONTROL + Shift + 0 (hold the Contorl and ALT keys and then press 0)
For macOS, use the following shortcut instead:
Command + Shift + 0
When you use this shortcut, all the selected rows or columns will be unhidden.
Related Reading: How to Hide Gridlines in Google Sheets
How to Hide Rows in Google Sheets
You can apply everything in this article to hide rows in Google Sheets or unhide rows too. For example, to use the right-click method, all you have to do is select the row, right-click them, then select Hide row(s). Here’s a full breakdown of how to hide a row in Google Sheets:
- Highlight the rows you want to hide in the row headers
- Right-click in the highlighted rows
- Left-click on Hide rows
If you want to hide more than one row, make sure you hold Ctrl when you left-click.
How to Collapse Columns in Google Sheets Mobile
If you use the Google Sheets app on Android on iOS, you can easily hide columns there as well.
Below are the steps that will hide the columns in a Google Sheets app on an Android device (same for iOS as well):
- Open the Google Sheets document and select the worksheet in which you want to hide the column
- Tap the column header to select the entire column. In this example, I tapped on Column E
- Touch the Column header E and hold it for a second. It will make available a menu of options as shown below. Click on the three dots at the right of the menu
- Tap on the Hide Column option and it will hide column E in the Google Sheets App
Frequently Asked Questions
These FAQs should help you get a full grasp of how to hide cells in Google Sheets.
How Do You Hide Columns in Google Sheets?
Select the column header(s), right-click, and select hide columns.
How Do You Hide Rows in Google Sheets
Just like using INDEX MATCH with multiple criteria, hiding rows in Google Sheets is simple. Just select the row header(s), right-click, and select hide columns.
How Do I Hide Columns in Google Sheets for Certain Users?
You just have to protect the range before you collapse the column. Then the users will be able to see that certain columns are hidden but won’t be able to unhide them. We have a full tutorial on how to hide columns in Google Sheets for certain users.
How Do I Remove Infinite Columns in Google Sheets?
You can simply delete excess rows and columns. Here’s how to hide unused cells in Google Sheets:
- Select the column you would like to delete from
- Press Ctrl+Shift+Right Arrow (Command instead of Ctrl for Macs) This will highlight all the columns to the right
- Right-click, and select Delete, you can also hide the columns instead, by clicking Hide columns
You can repeat this to collapse rows in Google Sheets by using the Up Arrow or Down Arrow instead. This is how to hide all the unused cells in Google Sheets.
Can Viewers See Hidden Columns in Google Sheets?
No, only those with Edit or Owner access may view or change hidden rows.
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