How do I unhide a sheet in Excel Android?

Don't worry, hidden worksheets are not deleted

Updated on December 31, 2020

What to Know

  • Easiest way to hide a worksheet: right-click the worksheet tab and select Hide.
  • Easiest way to unhide: right-click any worksheet tab, select Unhide, and select worksheet to unhide.
  • Alternatively, on the ribbon, go to Home > Format > Hide & Unhide > Hide Sheet or Unhide Sheet.

This article explains how to hide and unhide worksheets using the contextual menu and the ribbon in Excel for Microsoft 365, Excel 2019, 2016, 2013, and 2010. 

Data Use in Hidden Worksheets

An Excel worksheet is a single spreadsheet that contains cells. Each cell can hold text, a number, or a formula, and each cell can reference a different cell on the same worksheet, the same workbook, or a different workbook.

By default, all open Excel workbooks display worksheet tabs on the taskbar at the bottom of the screen, but you can hide or display them as needed. At least one worksheet must be visible at all times.

Hiding worksheets doesn't mean you're deleting them, and you can still reference them in formulas and charts located on other worksheets or other workbooks.

Hide Worksheets Using the Contextual Menu

The options available in the contextual menu — the right-click menu — change depending on what is selected.

If the Hide option is inactive or grayed out, most likely, the current workbook has only one worksheet. Excel deactivates the Hide option for single-sheet workbooks because there must always be at least one visible sheet.

How to Hide a Single Worksheet

  1. Click the worksheet tab to select it.

  2. Right-click on the worksheet tab to open the contextual menu.

  3. In the menu, click the Hide option to hide the selected worksheet.

    How to Hide Multiple Worksheets

  4. Click the tab of the first worksheet to be hidden to select it.

  5. Press and hold down the Ctrl key on the keyboard.

  6. Click the tabs of additional worksheets to select them.

  7. Right-click on one worksheet tab to open the contextual menu.

  8. In the menu, click on the Hide option to hide all the selected worksheets.

Hide Worksheets Using the Ribbon

Excel has no keyboard shortcut for hiding worksheets, but you can use the ribbon bar to accomplish the same task.

  1. Select one or more worksheet tabs at the bottom of an Excel file.

  2. Click the Home tab on the ribbon.

  3. Select Format in the Cells group.

  4. Click on Hide & Unhide.

  5. Select Hide Sheet.

Unhide Worksheets Using the Contextual Menu

You can unhide tabs using the contextual menu, just as you can hide them.

  1. Right-click a worksheet tab to open the Unhide dialog box, which displays all the currently hidden sheets.

  2. Click the sheet you want to unhide.

  3. Click OK to unhide the selected worksheet and to close the dialog box.

Unhide Worksheets Using the Ribbon

As with hiding worksheets, Excel has no keyboard shortcut for unhiding a sheet, but you can still use the ribbon.

  1. Select one or more worksheet tabs at the bottom of the Excel file.

  2. Click the Home tab on the ribbon.

  3. Select Format.

  4. Click Hide & Unhide.

  5. Select Unhide Sheet.

  6. Click the sheet you want to unhide from the list that pops up.

  7. Click OK.

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In Microsoft Excel, the terms “tab,” “sheet,” “sheet tab,” and “worksheet tab” are used interchangeably. They all refer to the worksheet on which you’re currently working. But no matter what you call them, depending on the project you’re editing, you might have too many tabs open and will need to hide a few to focus on your work.

How do I unhide a sheet in Excel Android?

However, at some point, you’ll probably need to see those hidden tabs again. Excel allows users to hide tabs and unhide them through a similar process.

In this article, we’ll explain how to unhide worksheet tabs, individually or all at once. We’ll also cover several common questions regarding the tab unhiding process in Excel.

Before we go into the details on how to unhide a worksheet tab, let’s see what you need to do to hide it in the first place. To do this, you must have at least two tabs open. Note that you can’t hide all tabs at the same time; one needs to be unhidden at all times. Here’s what you do:

  1. Press “Ctrl” (or “Command” on Mac), and with the cursor, select the tabs you want to hide.
  2. Right-click on the selected tabs and click “Hide” from the menu.
    How do I unhide a sheet in Excel Android?

This will automatically hide the tabs you no longer want to see. When you want to unhide a single tab, right-click on any tab and choose and follow these steps:

  1. Select “Unhide” from the menu.
    How do I unhide a sheet in Excel Android?
  2. From a pop-up window, choose the tab you want to unhide.
    How do I unhide a sheet in Excel Android?
  3. Select “OK.”
    How do I unhide a sheet in Excel Android?

  4. The tab will appear immediately among other visible tabs.
How do I unhide a sheet in Excel Android?

How to Unhide All Tabs in Excel

Hiding and unhiding tabs in Excel individually is a straightforward process. But if you’ve hidden a lot of tabs at once, unhiding each separately can be a time-consuming process.

Unfortunately, Excel doesn’t give you the option to press a button and unhide all tabs. You need to implement a workaround solution for that. All you need is to create a Custom View of your Workbook in Excel. Here’s how it works:

  1. Before you hide any tabs in Excel, go to the main toolbar and select “View.”
    How do I unhide a sheet in Excel Android?
  2. Then, select “Custom Views,” click on “Add,” name your view, and click “OK.”
    How do I unhide a sheet in Excel Android?
  3. Proceed to hide tabs.
  4. To unhide them, go to “Custom Views” in the toolbar, select the view you saved and click “Show.”
    How do I unhide a sheet in Excel Android?

Right away, you’ll be able to see all the hidden tabs again.

How to Unhide Tab Bar in Excel

If you’ve opened an Excel Workbook and you can’t see your sheet tabs, that means that the tab bar is hidden. Not to worry, unhiding it takes only a few clicks. Follow these steps to unhide the tab bar in your Workbook:

  1. Go to “File” in the main toolbar and select “Options” at the left bottom corner.
    How do I unhide a sheet in Excel Android?
  2. From the pop-up window, select the “Advanced” option and scroll to the “Display options for this workbook” section.
    How do I unhide a sheet in Excel Android?
  3. Make sure that the “Show sheet tabs” box is checked.
    How do I unhide a sheet in Excel Android?
  4. Select “OK.”
    How do I unhide a sheet in Excel Android?

You will be able to see your tab bar in the Workbook again.

How do I unhide a sheet in Excel Android?

How to Unhide a Table in Excel

The easiest way to unhide a table in Excel is to ensure you first save it in a separate sheet and hide it as such. From a worksheet, copy the table you want to hide and follow the instructions above to do so. Then, unhide it as with any other tab.

Alternatively, you can hide and unhide multiple rows and columns in Excel at the same time. Here’s how:

  1. Select the rows and columns you wish to hide/unhide.
    How do I unhide a sheet in Excel Android?
  2. Go to the “Home” tab and then to the “Cells” section.
    How do I unhide a sheet in Excel Android?
  3. Select “Format” and, from the drop-down menu, use the “Hide & Unhide” option under the “Visibility” section.
    How do I unhide a sheet in Excel Android?

How to Unhide Pivot Tables in Excel

A Pivot table is a useful feature in Excel that helps users sort through massive amounts of data. If you’re working on a Pivot table and the Field List disappears, you can get it back by following these quick steps.

  1. Right-click anywhere on your Pivot table.
  2. Select “Show Field List” from the menu.
    How do I unhide a sheet in Excel Android?

If you need to hide the Field List again, follow the same steps, but choose “Hide Field List” this time.

How to Unhide a Tab in Excel VBA

If you want another option to show more than one hidden tab at a time, you can use the Visual Basic for Applications editor or VBA in Excel. Here’s what that process looks like:

  1. Click on the worksheet tab and instead of “Unhide,” select “View Code.”
    How do I unhide a sheet in Excel Android?
  2. The VBA editor window will launch. In the editor, you’ll see the “Immediate” window. If you don’t see it, go to “View>Immediate Window.”
    How do I unhide a sheet in Excel Android?
  3. In the Immediate Window, enter the following code: “For each Sheet in Thisworkbook.Sheets: Sheet.Visible=True: Next Sheet”
    How do I unhide a sheet in Excel Android?

The code will be executed immediately, and you’ll see your hidden tabs again.

How to Unhide a Workbook in Excel

You can hide or unhide the Workbook window in Excel and, by doing so, manage your workspace to your advantage. Workbooks are displayed in the taskbar by default, but here’s how you can hide or unhide them:

  1. Go to the “View” tab in the main toolbar and then to the “Window” group.
    How do I unhide a sheet in Excel Android?
  2. Select “Hide” or “Unhide.”
    How do I unhide a sheet in Excel Android?
  3. When you need to unhide, select the name of the Workbook and then “OK.”
    How do I unhide a sheet in Excel Android?

You’ll be able to see the hidden Workbook again.

Additional FAQs

1. How Do You Do a Global Unhide in Excel?

You can also hide or unhide all the rows and columns in Excel to click on the space where the first row and first column meet. It’s in the top left corner.u003cbru003eu003cbru003eThis will select all rows and columns, and then all you need to do is click on the “Hide” or “Unhide” option in the “Window” group in the “View” tab.

2. How Do You Show Hidden Tabs in Excel?

If you want to show hidden tabs in Excel, follow the instruction provided above regarding how to do it for separate tabs and multiple tabs at the same time.

3. How Do I Unhide Tabs in Excel 2016?

If you’re an Excel 2016 user, the steps to hide and unhide tabs are identical to Excel 2019. So, all you need to do is apply the same steps we’ve provided above.

Seeing Only the Tabs You Need

When you’re navigating through dozens, sometimes hundreds, of tabs in your Excel Workbook, you can waste a lot of time opening the tabs you don’t need. You can’t delete them because you’ll likely need them later. The best solution is to hide them.

But if you’re not sure how to unhide them later, you’ll probably be reluctant to take that step in the first place. Hopefully, this tutorial will help you navigate hiding and unhiding tabs in Excel and become more efficient in using this feature.

How many tabs do you usually have open when working in Excel? Let us know in the comments section below.

Disclaimer: Some pages on this site may include an affiliate link. This does not effect our editorial in any way.

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How do I unhide a sheet in Excel Mobile?

On the sheet tab, tap the Down arrow. . Tap Hide. This option won't show if your spreadsheet doesn't contain two or more sheets..
In the bottom left, tap the Menu..
Tap the name of the sheet you no longer want hidden..
Your sheet will appear at the bottom of your spreadsheet..

How do you hide and unhide in Excel Mobile?

Show or hide the ribbon in Excel for mobile devices.
On your Android tablet, you can show or hide the ribbon by tapping the up and down arrows on the upper-right corner of your screen..
On your Android phone, you can expand the ribbon by tapping the edit icon . You can collapse the ribbon by tapping the down arrow ..

How do you get a hidden Excel sheet back?

Unhide a worksheet Right click on any visible tab. Select Unhide. Mark the tabs to unhide. Click OK.

Why won't Excel let me unhide sheets?

If the workbook contains only very hidden sheets, you won't even be able to open the Unhide dialog box because the Unhide command will be disabled. If the workbook contains both hidden and very hidden sheets, the Unhide dialog will be available, but very hidden sheets won't be listed there.