Unhide specific columns on a sheet

Jamie Ide

This + Grouping Columns is fundamental for the larger sheets, particularly those in finance / budgets which have commonalities across sections and also a lot of helper columns which typically are hidden!

Henry Park

I have grids with hundreds of columns with various helper columns hidden. Sometimes I need to look up the name of the column or unhide for error checking. Unhiding all is the only option if I don't know where the column was hidden. A solution could be to create a button that opens a dialog box of all columns names that is searchable and has a checkbox "hidden". This way we can simply search for the column name, if it's hidden, and where it's hidden (column position). Maybe you can rearrange columns in this box too.

jmyzk_cloudsmart_jp

I manage columns using an API tool (*) when working on large-scale developments. However, when I need to check hidden columns quickly, I use the following method:

Edit Row Menu

For example, the image below is the WBS template sheet, in which I hide columns to see necessary information in the Gannt view.

Click on "Edit" from the row menu. The menu displays all columns, including hidden ones. Click on "fx" to view the column formulas.

https://app.smartsheet.com/b/publish?EQBCT=a4db5dab417b4dedbaaa5527384bb825

Send Update Request Row Menu
From the row menu, click on "Send Update Request." By default, when you click "Include," only the visible columns are checked. The checked columns make it easy to see which columns are hidden and which are visible.

I hope this helps!

(*)

API Tool Image

Adrian Mandile CHESS

https://community.smartsheet.com/discussion/comment/421083#Comment_421083

One way that I work-around knowing which columns should be hidden, is to use Conditional Formatting – reserving the seldom used very pale purple background and automatic or dark grey font, so that when I have to re-select the columns it is more apparent.

Darren Mullen

@jmyzk_cloudsmart_jp That's a cool trick I wasn't aware of. We've also just released a solution for this through my partnership with SSFeatures:

https://community.smartsheet.com/discussion/comment/462274#Comment_462274