When you hide a column in Google Sheets, two small arrows appear between the neighboring column letters. That’s the only visible sign something’s missing.
Unhiding brings the column back into view. Useful when you’re reviewing a sheet someone shared, or you tucked a helper column away earlier and need it again.
There’s a keyboard shortcut that brings it back, as long as you select across the gap first.
Unhide Column Keyboard Shortcut in Google Sheets
Unhide Column Keyboard Shortcut (
Windows)
Ctrl + Shift + 0
Unhide Column Keyboard Shortcut (
Mac)
⌘ + Shift + 0
What this shortcut does
Select columns that span the hidden one, press the shortcut, and the hidden columns inside the selection come back. The column letters fill in again and the data reappears.
The values were never gone, just hidden from view. Anything referencing those cells kept calculating the whole time.
How to use it (step by step)
- Click the column letter just to the left of the hidden column, then Shift-click the letter just to the right. That selects across the gap.
- Press Ctrl + Shift + 0 (⌘ + Shift + 0 on Mac).
- The hidden column reappears in place.
A quick example. Column C is hidden, so the header jumps from B to D. Click B, Shift-click D to select B through D, then press the shortcut. Column C is back.
To bring back every hidden column at once, select the whole sheet (Ctrl + A, or the box in the top-left corner) and press the shortcut.
Alternative method (arrows / right-click)
When the mouse is faster:
- The arrows: two small arrows sit between the column letters where a column is hidden. Click either to bring it back. If several columns are hidden together, you may need a couple of clicks.
- Right-click: select across the gap, right-click any highlighted column letter, and pick Unhide columns.
Things to watch for
- Select across the gap. The shortcut acts on the columns in your selection, so it has to include the columns on both sides of the hidden one.
- Hidden column at the very edge. If column A is hidden, there’s no column to its left to anchor on. Select A through the next visible column before using the shortcut or the menu.
- Filtered columns aren’t hidden columns. A column hidden by a filter view sits in a different state. Switch the filter view off, or adjust it, to bring those back.
- Use the number-row 0. Not the numpad zero. On some laptops the Fn row is remapped and the combo can collide with a system shortcut.
- Frozen columns don’t change anything. A hidden column inside a frozen pane unhides the same way.
Google Sheets keyboard shortcuts
Related Google Sheets shortcuts: