[Solved] Show hidden columns

Discuss the spreadsheet application
Post Reply
muttiallen
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Feb 16, 2008 9:51 pm

[Solved] Show hidden columns

Post by muttiallen »

I hid columns A-F in a Calc worksheet. I now cannot get them to show again. I try Format>Column, but the Show option is grey. I've tried this with Column G highlighted, with the whole sheet highlighted, and with nothing highlighted. Always the same. I'm on OO 2.3.1 and MS VIsta.

Help! I need to get this info back.
Last edited by muttiallen on Sun Feb 17, 2008 12:55 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
acknak
Moderator
Posts: 22756
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 1:25 am
Location: USA:NJ:E3

Re: show hidden columns

Post by acknak »

Select all the columns (click in the upper left corner of the cell grid), then right-click on any column header and choose Show.
AOO4/LO5 • Linux • Fedora 23
User avatar
Hagar Delest
Moderator
Posts: 32627
Joined: Sun Oct 07, 2007 9:07 pm
Location: France

Re: show hidden columns

Post by Hagar Delest »

muttiallen wrote:I've tried this (...) with the whole sheet highlighted, and with nothing highlighted. Always the same.
Have you highlighted it with the top left square (intersection of lines and columns numbering)?

If you move the cursor on the left edged of the G column, does it change to a double arrow that allows you to expand the hidden F column?

If there is no sensitive data, can you upload the file here (if bigger than 128 kB, you've to use a file sharing web site (like mediafire.com).
 Edit: acknak went ahead it seems. The interface hasn't warned me that he had posted! 
LibreOffice 7.6.2.1 on Xubuntu 23.10 and 7.6.4.1 portable on Windows 10
muttiallen
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Feb 16, 2008 9:51 pm

Re: show hidden columns

Post by muttiallen »

OK---I am dumb. Your question of sensitive data was the key. It is the spreadsheet with the 100 usernames and passwords for various accounts for me, my husband and children. Yes, it's sensitive. I just recently changed from Excel to OO. I had the spreadsheet columns hidden and then password protected in Excel. I'd forgotten that in OO there is a protection checkbox, but no password. When I unchecked the protection I could unhide the columns! My goof....

Question #2 then. Is there a way to password protect the hiding of the columns?
User avatar
squenson
Volunteer
Posts: 1885
Joined: Wed Jan 30, 2008 9:21 pm
Location: Lausanne, Switzerland

Re: show hidden columns

Post by squenson »

Answer for question #2: Yes and No

Yes, you can protect a sheet with a password: Menu Tools > Protect Sheet > Sheet, and then enter a password
No, because someone can always select the entire sheet, copy and paste it into a new document and the protection is off.

The best way is to protect the entire document with a password (File > Save As > click the Save with password box).
LibreOffice 4.2.3.3. on Ubuntu 14.04
User avatar
Hagar Delest
Moderator
Posts: 32627
Joined: Sun Oct 07, 2007 9:07 pm
Location: France

Re: show hidden columns

Post by Hagar Delest »

:lol:

You can either hide the column and protect the sheet (Tools>Protect Document>Sheet) or select the column, go to Format>Cell, Cell Protection tab and check Hide all (NB: with the latter, you still see the column but it's empty) and protect the sheet afterwards.

Strange, I tried to copy/paste a protected sheet in a new document and I can't see the hidden cells.
LibreOffice 7.6.2.1 on Xubuntu 23.10 and 7.6.4.1 portable on Windows 10
muttiallen
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Feb 16, 2008 9:51 pm

Re: show hidden columns

Post by muttiallen »

OK, I'm good. The best way is Save As with a password. If someone steals my laptop and gets into this file I'm in big trouble!

Thanks for all the prompt help. I'm new to OO, and appreciate the service.
User avatar
Hagar Delest
Moderator
Posts: 32627
Joined: Sun Oct 07, 2007 9:07 pm
Location: France

Re: show hidden columns

Post by Hagar Delest »

If you use the native ODF (.ods) format, the encryption is rather good it seems: Password - PLZ HELP!

Thanks to add '[Solved]' in your first post title (edit button) if your issue has been fixed.
LibreOffice 7.6.2.1 on Xubuntu 23.10 and 7.6.4.1 portable on Windows 10
ChileMan
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2012 9:59 pm

Re: [Solved] Show hidden columns

Post by ChileMan »

I had this same problem—hidden columns that I couldn't get to show. I knew the data was there, because I used the name box in the upper left to select a hidden cell. Data showed up in the input line. I tried everything in this topic and nothing worked.
I saved the file as XML, closed the file and re-loaded it into OpenOffice and the hidden column was in view.
Apache OpenOffice 3.4.0 on WinXP and Ubuntu 10
User avatar
RoryOF
Moderator
Posts: 34586
Joined: Sat Jan 31, 2009 9:30 pm
Location: Ireland

Re: [Solved] Show hidden columns

Post by RoryOF »

Usually it is sufficient to select the columns (or rows) on either side of the hidden columns (or rows), right click on a column (or row) header and choose "Show" from the popup.
Apache OpenOffice 4.1.15 on Xubuntu 22.04.4 LTS
Post Reply