Hide cells in Excel to make data entry easier

by Mary Ann Richardson | Jul 01, 2005 9:50:00 PM

Tags: Mice, Microsoft Office, Mary Ann Richardson, data entry, Ctrl, cell, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office Suite Excel Tips Newsletter

Takeaway: Microsoft Excel's split-pane method is helpful for editing or comparing values in large spreadsheets, but it can be time-consuming to line up the values in their corresponding labels. Here's a way to use shortcut keys to speed up this data entry process.

You can use Microsoft Excel's split pane feature to edit or compare values in large spreadsheets. However, the split-pane method involves some scrolling before you can line up the values with their corresponding labels. A quicker method uses shortcut keys to hide the cells you don't need to see. For example, at the end of a semester you wish to compare the students' final grades which are listed in Column P with their names listed in Column A. Follow these steps:

1. Click and drag the mouse to select columns B through O.
2. Press [CTRL][0].

After viewing the grades, you can "unhide" the cells by selecting columns A and P and pressing [CTRL][SHIFT][0].

This method will also work when comparing or editing data across rows. For example, if you want to compare monthly income shown in row 100 whose labels are listed across row 4, follow these steps:

1. Click and drag the mouse to select rows 5 through 99.
2. Press [CTRL][9].

Pressing [CRTL][SHIFT][9] unhides the rows.

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Easier way RRB | 07/06/05

The beauty of this tip csg@... | 07/06/05