Excel doesn’t have any options to hide the content of a cell, not even the 2007 version, without hiding the row or column where that cell is. There are several ways to bypass this limitation:
- Use a special custom number format by right-clicking the cell that you want to hide and open the Format Cells dialog box and on the Number tab select Custom on the Category list. Then on the Type field enter ;;; (three semicolons). Click OK.
- Change the font of the cell to the same as the background color.
- Add a shape that has the same color as the background on top of the cell that you want to hide the content.
This methods don’t really hide the content of the cell because if you click on top of the cell you can still see the content on the formula bar. You can always hide the formula bar also to avoid this or you can do it like this:
- Select the cells that you want to hide the content
- Right-click to go to Format Cells or press Ctrl+1 to open the dialog box. Click on the Protection tab
- Select Hidden check box and click OK
- In the menu bar, go to Review-Protect Sheet
- Add a password or press only the OK button
This way the sheet will be protected and the cells are locked. You can’t make changes to the cells. By default, Excel makes all cells “locked”.
