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How to Hide and Unhide a Column in Google Sheets

Select a column letter and choose Hide column; click the arrow at its former header position to unhide it. Keyboard shortcuts and grouping are also covered.
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In Google Sheets on a computer, select a column by clicking its letter, right-click it, then choose Hide column. To show it again, click the small arrow at the spot where the column letter used to be.

Hide a column in Google Sheets

  1. Open the spreadsheet in Google Sheets on a computer.
  2. Click the letter at the top of the column you want to hide.
  3. Right-click the selected column and choose Hide column.

To hide several columns together, select them before opening the context menu. On a Mac, Google documents using Command-click to select multiple columns. See Google’s instructions for hiding or showing rows and columns.

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Unhide a column

Look along the column headers for the small arrow at the boundary where the hidden column letter would appear, then click the arrow. Google uses this arrow to show a hidden column again.

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Use a keyboard shortcut

Google lists these shortcuts for columns in Sheets:

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Hide column Ctrl + Alt + 0 Command + Option + 0
Unhide column Ctrl + Shift + 0 Command + Shift + 0

Some shortcuts may not work with every keyboard or language. To see the shortcut list in Sheets, press Ctrl + / on Windows or ChromeOS, or Command + / on Mac. Google’s full keyboard shortcuts reference also lists Alt + / on Windows or Option + / on Mac to open Tool finder.

When to group columns instead

Hiding is useful for quickly taking columns out of view. If you want a related set of columns that people can deliberately collapse and reopen, group them instead:

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  1. Select the columns you want to group.
  2. Choose View > Group > Group columns.
  3. Use the plus or minus control beside the group to expand or collapse it.

Google’s instructions for grouping rows and columns also list keyboard shortcuts: Alt + Shift + Right Arrow to group, and Alt + Shift + Up/Down Arrow to collapse or expand on PC. On Mac, use Option instead of Alt.

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Hiding a column is not data protection

Hiding changes what is shown in the spreadsheet; do not treat it as a way to secure sensitive information. Google’s explicit warning says, “Hiding a sheet is not the same as protecting a sheet.” Its guidance explains that editors can unhide hidden sheets and viewers may access their contents by making a copy and unhiding them. That warning is specifically about sheets; it does not establish the exact access behavior for hidden columns. For sensitive data, use appropriate access controls rather than relying on visibility settings. See Google’s guidance on protecting, hiding, and editing sheets.

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