Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here: Displaying a Hidden First Row.
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:
Figure 1. The Go To dialog box.
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2743) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Excel (Excel 2007 and later) here: Displaying a Hidden First Row.
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2017-03-22 13:21:56
Daniel Lara
great! thanks for the tip!
2017-01-13 07:11:49
saraB
thanks yes unfreeze panes first worked for me too!
2016-09-15 08:34:46
jw
you should preface these instructions with unfreezing panes. if panes are frozen, many functions in Excel are disabled--including page break changes etc. this is the case for unhiding row 1.
2016-08-03 10:22:41
Excel_Freek
It worked, thanks.
2016-07-12 14:24:49
KV
Thank you Mr.John. It worked for me as well.
2016-02-02 06:23:21
Ranjeewa
thanks, Mr John,
It works for unhide, only thing is you have to unfreeze the sheet, otherwise this will not work.
thank you very much.
god bless .
2015-06-23 01:43:42
Brian
Move your cursor up the row numbers to the top until it becomes a double line arrow then double click
2015-05-14 09:37:56
Phil
You may need to unfreeze panes. Under view, Freeze/Unfreeze. Remember to select the entire worksheet first.
2015-05-08 13:23:34
Christina
worked for me after I unfreeze panes
2015-04-18 00:15:10
Andy
Worked for me after removing freeze pan
2015-03-26 12:13:02
Ann
Check you haven't got the freeze pane on, this was what was stopping me seeing row 1-4 :-)
2015-01-15 01:53:20
Ciprian
It works unless you have frozen panes.
2014-12-05 10:56:09
Anna
Sorry this did not work.
The row height say 20 but still unable to see row 1.
Highlighted the spread sheet, increased the row heights. Row 1 is still missing.
2014-10-01 12:28:43
mike
doesnt work
2012-08-23 06:59:14
Rik
Their height can be zero
2012-08-23 06:57:54
Rik
They can be filtered out
2012-05-20 10:53:30
Kristin
I have tried the steps listed in this article, but I still cannot see the first five rows of my spreadsheet. Is there any other reason why the first five rows might not be seen?
Got a version of Excel that uses the menu interface (Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, or Excel 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.
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Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here: 
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