Displaying a Hidden First Row

Summary: If you hide the first rows of a worksheet, you may have a hard time getting those rows visible again. Here's a simple way to make those rows show up. (This tip works with Microsoft Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, Excel 2003, and Excel 2007.)

Excel makes it easy to hide and unhide rows using the menus. What isn't so easy is displaying a hidden row if that row is above the first visible row in the worksheet. For instance, if you hide rows 1 through 5, Excel will dutifully follow out your instructions. If you later want to unhide any of these rows, the solution isn't so obvious.

To unhide the top rows of a worksheet when they are hidden, follow these steps:

Press F5. Excel displays the Go To dialog box. (Click here to see a related figure.)
In the Reference field at the bottom of the dialog box, enter the number of the row range that you want to unhide. For instance, if you want to unhide rows 2 through 3, enter 2:3. Likewise, if you want to unhide row 1, enter 1:1.
Click on OK. The rows you specified are now selected, even though you cannot see it on the screen.
Choose Row from the Format menu, then choose Unhide.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2743) applies to Microsoft Excel versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

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Displaying a Hidden First Row