Hide Content of the Cells

We have discussed this method in a previous post on Excel protection features.

Suppose you are sending a file to a friend and do not want him/her to see what a particular cell contains. Then you simply format the cell to make contents of it invisible on its face.

Select the cell(s) you want and press Ctrl+1 (or simply right click and select Format cells option). In the Number tab, under Category, select Custom and under Type, enter ;;; (3 semicolons without spaces) and hit OK. Contents of selected cells will not be visible any more in the cell. However you can still see them in formula bar. This option is best used in conditional formatting to highlight cell colours but not contents.

Note that this option only make the content of the cell invisible but will not delete it. You can use the content just the way you do with any other cell in formulas etc.

You may also wish to see how to hide contents of the cell in formula bar.