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.

Displaying a Hidden First Row

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated April 6, 2019)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


1

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:

  1. Press F5. Excel displays the Go To dialog box. (See Figure 1.)
  2. Figure 1. The Go To dialog box.

  3. 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.
  4. Click on OK. The rows you specified are now selected, even though you cannot see it on the screen.
  5. 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 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.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

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What is seven more than 2?

2019-04-18 16:46:50

Thomas Papavasileiou

You can also approach the pointer of the mouse in the gray column indicating the row numbers, to the top of the top unhidden row number until it displays a symbol that resembles an equal sign with two arrows, one pointing upwards, starting from the middle of the top horizontal line and the other pointing downwards starting from the middle of the lower horizontal line. When you see that symbol, click and drag downwards, The hidden top row arrears.

An approximate shape of this symbol is as follows

__|__
____
}


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