Selecting Visible Cells Only

Spreadsheets often have rows or columns that are hidden or grouped (note that we Marquee would generally prefer grouping for transparency and to avoid errors). When a range of cells is selected and copied, by default Excel will include any hidden cells (except when copying data from a Filter). This can
cause confusion and mistakes if the user does not realize this when pasting.

To select only the visible cells from a range:

– Highlight the desired range

– Press the F5 key (Go To)

– Select “Special”

– Select “Visible cells only”

– Select OK

In the Example below, two of the rows have been grouped:

After hitting OK, you will see that Excel will now highlight only what can been seen in the selection. Now this data can be copied and pasted as a discreet set of cells.

Like a lot of useful actions in Excel, there is a keyboard shortcut for this. After highlighting the entire range, press ALT + ; and only the visible cells will be selected.

Once the visible cells have been selected, you can now copy just those cells.