XL2000: Hidden Rows and Columns Are Displayed in Some Web Browsers

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This article was previously published under Q221073

Symptoms

When you save an Excel worksheet containing hidden rows or columns as a Web page and then view the file in a Web browser, hidden rows and columns may or may not be displayed depending on which Web browser you are using.

The following table describes whether hidden rows or columns are displayed based on your Web browser:

If you are using this browser       Hidden rows/columns are displayed
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Internet Explorer 5                 No
Internet Explorer 4                 Blank rows and columns may be 
                                    displayed.
Internet Explorer 3                 Yes
Netscape Navigator 4                Data in hidden columns is 
                                    displayed. Data in hidden rows is 
                                    not displayed; however, blank rows may
                                    be displayed.
Netscape Navigator 3                Yes

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Cause

This behavior occurs if your browser does not support the Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) Level 2 specification. When saving a worksheet that contains hidden rows and columns, Excel saves information about the hidden rows and columns in the display property of the style attribute of the table row (<TR>) tag, similar to the following example:

The display property is based on the CSS Level 2 specification. display:none indicates that no boxes should be displayed. Therefore, if your browser does not support the CSS Level 2 specification, it may display the hidden columns or rows partially or entirely. This is a limitation of the browser, not of Excel. Note that Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 does support the CSS Level 2 specification.

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Workaround

To work around this behavior, follow these steps:

Save the file by clicking Save As on the File menu, and giving the file a new name.
In the file you created in step 1, delete the columns or rows you want to hide.
Save the file by clicking Save as Web Page on the File menu. Excel gives the file an .htm extension.

When you view the page in any browser, the columns or rows you deleted aren't displayed because they were not saved in the HTML file.

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