Unhide not working in Excel 2007

[Submeg]

Hello all,

I have been building an excel spreadsheet that does lots of different calculations. I have hidden columns from I to -> IZ (or whatever the last column possible is). I have not put protection onto the sheet.

I am now trying to unhide the columns, and it is not allowing me to do so! I have tried to use the Home -> Cells -> Format -> Unhide Columns, but it is not working (nb. I have also done this for rows but the unhide works for the rows?)

Any help would be appreciated.

Regards,

Submeg

 

[Greg Truby]

Myles,

I'm not sure what bit of information you're trying to pass along? Having filters active (either normal or advanced) does not preclude hiding or unhiding columns in Excel 2007.

 

[mylesdcollins]

Not columns, rows. I find (in excel 2007 on Vista) that I can hide, but not unhide, rows if filters are on. Even if the filters are not on the rows I'm trying to unhide.

 

[Greg Truby]

Ah, got it. Yup, that is 100% spot on as far as hiding & unhiding rows when filters are engaged.

 

[gardengal444]

I know this thread is old, but I just ran into this problem in Excel 2007 and my problem/solution was different than all of these. Just posting for future folks.

I have 3 sections of 5 columns each (H-L, M-Q, R-W). They are only grouped visually by way of merging cells in row 1 and using fill colors on all the "groups" of columns. Hiding a section (5 columns) worked fine, but I could only unhide them by first UNMERGEing the 5 cells in Row 1 for the "section" to the right. I suppose if I hid all 3 "sections", I might still have a problem, but so far I have not had to do that, or do I anticipate it.

In case I didn't explain it well, here's an example. If I select columns M through Q and HIDE, all okay. IF I then select L & R columns and right-click there is no hide/unhide menu at all. If I unmerge R1:W1, and then repeat select L&R, the unhide context menu shows up.

I hope I remember this when it comes up in another 6 months !!!

Interestingly, reading through this thread led me to that solution, but I'm not sure why. So thanks for forums!!

 

[gogreenall2010]

Hi, I ran into the same problem that unhide from the right click did not work.
I did all suggestions include create/run a macro or set row width to be larger enough to see from this post/thread, however no success.
Any help is appreciated.

 

[Greg Truby]

..or set row width to be larger enough to see from this post/thread, ...

I'm assuming you misspoke. One cannot set a "row width". I assume you meant to say "column width". If you didn't, if you meant "row height" then let us know.

My first suggestion would be to enter the address of a cell in the column your after into the name box and hit your «Enter» key. For example, let's say you want to unhide column Z. In the name box (the box on the left end of your formula bar - it will show the address of the active cell as you move around the worksheet). In that box type "Z1" (without the quotes) and hit the «Enter» key. You would move to cell Z1, even if the column is hidden. Now (assuming Excel 2007 or 2010) you can go to the home tab and in the Cells group (2nd from the right end), pick the Format dropdown and then the Hide & Unhide menu option and then the Unhide Columns menu option.

If these menu options are greyed out then it is most likely the worksheet is protected. You'll need to unprotect the worksheet before you can hide or unhide columns.

Note: if you need to unhide multiple columns, you can enter a range address in the name box. For example if columns S through Z were hidden, you could type "S1:Z1" in the name box and hit enter and the range S1:Z1 will be selected.

 

[Greg Truby]

Sorry - I should have pointed this out - if you try that and the menu options are NOT greyed out, but they don't appear to work, then you likely have the same problem as Submeg had and the columns' widths are very small. Follow the same procedure, but instead of the Hide & Unhide menu option, use the Column width... menu option and set to something like 8 or 12 or something easily visible.