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MS Excel: Grouping | To add , Remove expand collapse button in MS Excel


Sometimes we may have to work with excel workbook which has more number of columns or rows.
In that case, you can group certain number of columns/rows .
The grouped columns will appear with a collapse button(-) or expand button(+).

The advantage of this grouping button when compared to hide columns/row option is,When you or any other person refer this workbook later, we can easily identify the collapsed columns.
But, When we Hide the columns, there are chances that we forget that some columns are hidden.

How to Group (Expand/Collapse) Columns and Rows



  1. Select the rows or columns that you want to Group
  2. Now in Data tab → Outline → Group → Select Group
  3. Now, you can see that the selected columns are grouped and a collapse button will appear, in addition with 1,2 option.
  4. If you click 1, the grouped columns will collapse, 2 will expand the columns.


Grouping is one of the essential tool that we need to know, to increase productivity in MS ecxel.