That is the one major I have encountered for grouping data instead of hiding it. You can, however, hide and unhide rows for multiple worksheets all at once. In fact, the entire grouping / ungroup function does not work. One drawback is if you are dealing with multiple worksheets, and want to group the same rows / columns on multiple worksheets at the same time, it is basically not possible. For those who hide / unhide cells for various purposes, such as formatting or just hiding tedious and unimportant details, I would definitely use group instead. Group however, due to the expand “square plus” button, cues the user that there is more data underneath. For fatigue users or when the user zoomed out on the spreadsheet, it is sometimes hard to see which row or columns are hidden. Basically, the user can have nested groups, where they can hide and unhide the top group and not affect the subsequent bottom groups. Select column A and go to the Constants that are text, then use the Hide Rows.

Use similar steps to hide the marked rows. Second advantage is that the group function can have multiple levels of hierarchies – something not possible with the normal hide or unhide function. Next, with the marked columns selected, follow these cells to hide the columns: Click the Format command on the Ribbon’s Home tab Click Hide & Unhide, then click Hide Columns. Select all Empty Columns on Right Side 1. Edit Spreadsheet to Remove Empty Columns To make these extra columns dont show on OneNote, we need to hide the empty columns in Excel. Click 'Edit' button on spreadsheet in OneNote, it will open this spreadsheet using Excel. On top of that, you have to make sure to highlight the correct rows or columns each time, where as grouping is just a click, and the same rows or columns are collapsed each time.) So the first advantage, and the biggest one, of using group is that it saves time and avoid errors. We can edit this spreadsheet by Excel to remove these extra columns. This type of one click convenience is also why it is better than the normal hide function in many ways. The user can group and collapse (hide) all the details of each budget category all with a click of a button. The original purpose of grouping cells to group and hide details of various parts of big file with a data hierarchy, such as a budget. The square buttons on the left and square brackets indicate which rows form the same group. Shortcut:Įxcel 2007 or 2010: shift+alt+right (the Excel 2003 shortcut also works) To expand (basicaly, hide), press the “square plus”.

It is in the “Data” Ribbon, on the right in Excel 20.Īfter grouping the rows or columns, you can collaspe (basically, hide) them by pressing the “square minus” box on the left. The group function basically “ties a range (columns or rows, can’t be both) together, and allows you to collapse them (and expand them later), showing only the last row or column”. What is the Group Function and How to Activate it? Most users are familiar with hiding rows or columns, but may not have ventured into grouping rows or columns.

Hide columns in excel