In Excel: check why they are hidden — rows collapsed to a tiny height need Home ▸ Format ▸ Row Height (e.g. 15); rows hidden by a filter need Data ▸ Clear; a collapsed outline needs the + button; a protected sheet needs Review ▸ Unprotect Sheet first.
On this page7
Look at the row numbers: blue numbers mean a filter is active — use Data ▸ Clear.
Look for + buttons or level numbers at the left edge — click + (or the highest level) to expand a collapsed group.
Select the rows on both sides of the gap and set Home ▸ Format ▸ Row Height to a normal value such as 15.
If Format and Unhide are greyed out, choose Review ▸ Unprotect Sheet first.
If the top rows are missing, check View ▸ Freeze Panes ▸ Unfreeze Panes, then type A1 in the Name Box and use Unhide Rows.
What this does
Unhide only reverses a manual Hide. Rows can disappear in other ways that Unhide does not touch: a row height set to a sliver looks hidden but is not, a filter hides rows that do not match its condition, an outline group collapses detail rows, and on a protected sheet the Format commands are disabled. Frozen panes can also keep the top rows scrolled out of reach. Identifying which of these applies is the whole fix. Start from the symptom: note the exact message or behaviour, when it appears and which file it affects. That separates a cause in this workbook from a setting, a protection state or a product limit. Treat “can't unhide rows in excel” as a small repeatable workflow rather than a one-off click you hope to remember next time. Use a small test block before the live file, so any surprise in the affected rows shows up while it is still harmless. When this is a ribbon command, the selection matters more than the button: confirm the range, apply the command, then spot-check the output before saving. That turns a workflow that saves repeating the same clicks every week into a method you can reuse, explain, and defend when the workbook leaves your screen.
A worked example
Rows 10–14 are missing and Unhide Rows does nothing. The row headers jump from 9 to 15 with no double line, and the Data ▸ Filter button is not highlighted, so it is not a filter. Select rows 9 to 15, open Home ▸ Format ▸ Row Height, enter 15 and press OK — the five rows reappear, because someone had dragged their height down to almost zero rather than hiding them. Missing rows that will not come back usually hold data someone still needs. Knowing the handful of ways rows can vanish turns a frustrating dead end into a one-minute check. Work on a copy while you troubleshoot; a repair or cleanup step can change more of the file than the symptom suggests.
In Google Sheets
This is a command rather than a formula, so there is no syntax to carry over. Google Sheets arranges its commands in menus across the top instead of a ribbon, names some of them differently and does not have every Excel command — look for the equivalent in the Sheets menus or its help before assuming the steps match. The aim was to get you unstuck fast and leave you a little more capable than a copy-paste would. The answer is at the top and the detail above shows why it holds — so the next time a colleague asks, you can answer without reaching for search. The short version of “can't unhide rows in excel”: identify the exact symptom, check the listed causes one at a time, and keep a copy of the file until the fix is confirmed.
Common mistakes
- Repeating Unhide on rows that are filtered or grouped — it never affects those.
- Selecting only the rows next to the gap when the first row is hidden; use the Name Box or Ctrl+A instead.
- Missing that the sheet is protected, which disables the Format menu.
Frequently asked questions
Why do my rows stay hidden after Unhide?
They are probably not manually hidden: a filter, an outline group, or a very small row height produce the same gap. Clear the filter, expand the group, or set a row height.
How do I unhide rows on a protected sheet?
Unprotect it from the Review tab (with the password if one was set), unhide, then protect it again.
How can I tell a filter from hidden rows?
Filtered rows show blue row numbers and a funnel icon in the header cell; manually hidden rows show a double line between row numbers.