Hiding and Merging Cells and Rows in Google Sheets

Created by Josh Sheffield, Modified on Mon, 25 Nov, 2024 at 8:52 AM by Josh Sheffield


Google Sheets provides handy tools for managing your spreadsheet's appearance and organization. This guide will show you how to hide and merge cells and rows, complete with screenshots and examples.

Hiding Cells and Rows

Hiding data can be useful for decluttering your sheet or focusing on specific information without deleting anything.

1. Hiding Rows:

  • Select the row(s) you want to hide by clicking on the row number(s).
  • Right-clickon the selected row number(s).

  • Choose "Hide row" from the context menu.
  • Image of Google Sheet with rightclick menu on row number showing Hide row option Opens in a new window www.oksheets.comGoogle Sheet with rightclick menu on row number showing Hide row option

2. Hiding Columns:

  • Select the column(s) you want to hide by clicking on the column letter(s).
  • Right-click on the selected column letter(s).
  • Choose "Hide column" from the context menu.
  • Image of Google Sheet with rightclick menu on column letter showing Hide column option Opens in a new window rows.comGoogle Sheet with rightclick menu on column letter showing Hide column option

Merging Cells

Merging cells combines multiple cells into a single cell, which can be useful for creating headers or labels that span multiple columns.

1. Select the cells you want to merge.

  • Click the "Format" menu.
  • Hover over "Merge cells"and choose from the following options:
    • Merge all: Combines all selected cells into one.
    • Merge horizontally: Merges cells within the same row.
    • Merge vertically: Merges cells within the same column.
  • Image of Google Sheets Format menu with Merge cells options highlighted Opens in a new window unito.ioGoogle Sheets Format menu with Merge cells options highlighted

Example:

Image of Google Sheet showing a table with Monthly Expenses merged across multiple columns as a header Opens in a new window www.owox.com

 Google Sheet showing a table with Monthly Expenses merged across multiple columns as a header 

In this example, merging cells creates a clear header for the expense tracker.

Important Notes:

  • When merging cells, only the upper-leftmost cell's value is retained. Any other values in the merged cells will be deleted.
  • To unmerge cells, select the merged cell, go to "Format" > "Merge cells" and select "Unmerge".

By mastering these techniques, you can effectively organize and present your data in Google Sheets. Remember to experiment and explore other features to unlock the full potential of this powerful tool.

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