Hide Columns

H

hajo

Friends,

I wish to hide columns and wouldnt want the recipient of the Excel file
to Unhide it.
Is this possible?

Regards

HAJO
 
D

Dave Peterson

You can hide the column and protect the worksheet. But the data in those
columns isn't secure. Worksheet protection is easily broken and the values can
still obtained other ways.

So if the data is sensitive, don't trust excel's protection.
 
G

Gord Dibben

You can hide the columns and protect the workbook structure but as far as
keeping out prying eyes............

That would depend upon the level of expertise of the recipient.

If you hid the columns and protected the workbook with a password under
Tools>Protection it would take a user who can use the internet to find
password-cracking applications not much more than a few seconds to strip the
protection and unhide the columns.

The general rule is "if you don't want them to see it, don't include it"


Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP
 
R

Ragdyer

The only sure way is to *delete* the columns.

If these columns contain relevant data values and/or formulas, copy the
file, Paste Special, Values.
This way, everything is properly displayed with no chance of revealing any
proprietary information.

However, there is now no chance for this file to perform any computations.

If the recipient is supposed to *use* this file for calculating, then you're
out of luck as far as *absolutely* protecting your confidential information.
 
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