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: Hiding and Unhiding Worksheets.

Hiding and Unhiding Worksheets

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated October 18, 2025)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

There may be times when you want to hide a particular worksheet so that it cannot be easily accessed. This is often done to protect information on a worksheet or keep it from prying eyes. To hide a worksheet, follow these steps:

  1. Select the worksheet you want to hide.
  2. Choose Sheet from the Format menu. Excel displays a submenu.
  3. Choose the Hide option from the submenu.

The worksheet is immediately hidden. Once hidden, there is no way to tell it is "missing," as there is with hidden rows and columns. If you later want to unhide the worksheet, follow these steps:

  1. Choose Sheet from the Format menu. Excel displays a submenu.
  2. Choose Unhide from the submenu. Excel displays the Unhide dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

    3. Figure 1. The Unhide dialog box.

  3. Select the worksheet name you want to unhide.
  4. Click on OK.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2806) 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: Hiding and Unhiding Worksheets.

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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