MrExcel.com - Your One Stop for Excel Tips & Solutions

Group Columns Instead of Hiding Them

October 02, 2023 - by

Group Columns Instead of Hiding Them

Problem: I have a report with months and quarters. My manager sometimes wants the reports printed with months hidden and other times with the months showing. It is a pain to hide/unhide the four groups of monthly columns.

Strategy: You can group the columns instead of hiding and unhiding them. Follow these steps:

  • 1. Unhide all the columns.

  • 2. Select the headings Jan, Feb, and Mar. Select Data, Group, Columns. Excel adds a group and outline symbol above the column headings.

  • 3. Repeat step 2 for Apr, May, Jun; Jul, Aug, Sep; and Oct, Nov, Dec.

Excel will draw in Group & Outline buttons above the spreadsheet.

Manual group and outlines have been set up. Jan, Feb, Mar in B:D will collapse into Q1 in column E and so on.
Figure 1343. Excel adds group and outline icons like with subtotals.

You can click the 1 Group & Outline button to collapse to quarters. Click the 2 to show months.

Click the Number 1 Group and Outline button to hide all the monthly data and only show quarters.
Figure 1344. The 1 and 2 Group & Outline buttons toggle between views.

This article is an excerpt from Power Excel With MrExcel

Title photo by Kier in Sight Archives on Unsplash