Chart Hidden Data in Excel

When you hide rows or columns of data, a chart will, by default, not display that data anymore.  Thankfully, there is a simple way around this.

The problem:

Steps to Show Hidden Data on Charts

1. Select the chart:
   
2. Go to the Design tab that appears when you select the chart and then click Select Data:
   
3. In the window that appears, in the lower left corner, click the button Hidden and Empty Cells.
   
4. Another smaller window will open.  In this window put a check next to where it says Show data in hidden rows and columns. Then, click OK.
   
5. The first window will appear again. Click OK for that window as well and that is it.

We can still see our chart regularly:

But, now, also when the data for the chart is hidden:

Notes

This is a great little feature and I don't know why they make you go through so many steps just to enable it.

Download the sample file for this tutorial so you can see this feature in action in Excel.