When we paste, we get only the data from cells that were visible. This time, however, we'll use Alt to change the selection to visible cells only. As before, we'll hide the columns and then make a normal selection. If that seems like a lot of steps, you'll be happy to know that Excel provides a keyboard shortcut for selecting visible cells: Notice the cells that were hidden are not included. Now you can see the moving dashed line around the cells that were copied. Back in the original worksheet, we can verify the selection by unhiding the columns. Only data in cells that were visible will be copied. Now you can copy the selection, and paste. Watch our video tip on this shortcut for a. This means hidden cells in the current selection will not be selected.

This shortcut will select only visible cells in the current selection. In the Go To Special dialog, select Visible Cells Only. Again, don’t worry if the selected range includes hidden columns and/or rows. Then, on the home tab of the ribbon, click the Find & Select menu and choose Go To Special.

To get around this problem, we need to tell Excel to select only visible cells.įirst, make the selection normally. This is because Excel selects both visible and hidden cells by default. We can easily hide these columns but if we then select all the properties, copy, and paste into another worksheet, we get all of the data, including the data in columns that are hidden. Let's say we want to give this list to someone else, but without the data in columns E through I. Here we have a list of real estate properties. In this video we'll show you how to work with visible cells only. This means that any data in hidden rows or columns is included when you copy a selection. By default, when you select a range of cells in Excel, hidden cells are also selected.

Excel 2016 select visible cells only