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Excel Agility: Custom Views

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In this presentation, Excel expert David H. Ringstrom, CPA, shares a variety of ways to automate your work in Excel by way of the Custom Views feature. David will also contrast Custom Views with the Sheet Views feature available in Excel 2021 and Excel for Microsoft 365. Both features allow you to hide or display rows and columns, as well as filter settings, by simply applying a view. Custom Views also enables you to hide and unhide worksheets. On the other hand, simply adding an Excel table to your workbook disables the Custom Views feature, whereas Sheet View does not have this limitation.

David is the author of “Microsoft Excel 365 for Dummies”, “Exploring Microsoft Excel’s Hidden Treasures”, and has written or co-authored six other books. He demonstrates every technique at least twice: first, on a PowerPoint slide with numbered steps, and second, in the subscription-based Excel for Microsoft 365. David draws your attention to any differences in Excel 2021, 2019 or 2016 during the presentation and in his detailed handouts. The handouts include an Excel workbook with most of the examples he uses during his demonstrations. 

Excel for Microsoft 365 is a subscription-based product that receives periodic feature updates. Conversely, perpetual licensed versions have year numbers in their names and do not receive any feature updates.


Who should attend:

Professionals seeking to use Microsoft Excel more effectively.

Topics typically covered:

• Learning how to replace an existing custom view with new settings.

• Protecting hidden sheets from within a workbook.

• Setting a print range that includes multiple noncontiguous areas of a worksheet.

• Exploring the automation possibilities available by way of Excel’s Custom Views feature.

• Streamlining Custom Views by adding a drop-down list to Excel's Quick Access Toolbar.

• Applying different filter settings with just a couple of mouse clicks using the Custom Views feature.

• Creating custom views that will enable you to display all worksheets in a workbook at once as well as hide/display selected worksheets.

• Freezing or unfreezing worksheet panes on demand with a custom view.

• Utilizing Sheet View for workbooks saved to OneDrive or SharePoint in Excel 2021 and later.

• Applying different filter settings with just a couple of mouse clicks using the Custom Views feature.

• Understanding the conflict that the Table feature poses with Custom Views in Excel for Windows.

• Controlling large datasets efficiently by filtering instead of sorting.

Learning objectives:

• Identify the menu where the Custom Views feature resides.

• Recall which mouse action enables you to skip clicking the Show button within the Custom Views dialog box.

• Identify the limitations of the Sheet View feature.

Level: Basic
Format: Live Webcast
Instructional Method: QAS Self-Study (Traditional)
NASBA Field of Study: Computer Software & App (2 hours)
Program Prerequisites: None
Advance Preparation: No

    1. Introduction
    2. Presenting with Microsoft 365 for Windows 00:01:47
    3. Topics at a Glance 00:04:01
    4. Section 1: Introduction to Custom Views 00:06:21
    5. Overview of Excel's Custom Views Feature 00:06:49
    6. Settings Captured by Custom Views 00:21:14
    7. Section 2: Managing Worksheet Appearance 00:21:15
    8. Creating a Custom View to Unhide All Worksheets 00:22:09
    9. Creating a Custom View to Hide Worksheets 00:26:44
    10. Streamlining Workbook Appearance with Custom Views 00:29:45
    11. Custom Views for Multipurpose Worksheets (1/2) 00:36:11 
    12. Custom Views for Multipurpose Worksheets (2/2) 00:40:20
    13. Section 3: Filtering and Table Conflicts 00:46:26
    14. Managing Filters with Custom Views (1/2) 00:48:02
    15. Managing Filters with Custom Views (2/2) 00:51:20
    16. Excel Tables Disable Custom Views 00:56:13
    17. Restoring Access to Lost Custom Views 01:03:46
    18. Section 4: Printing and Layout Control 01:05:32
    19. Managing Print Settings with Custom Views (1/2) 01:05:49
    20. Managing Print Settings with Custom Views (2/2) 01:2:42
    21. Section 5: Troubleshooting and Special Topics 01:14:43
    22. Protecting a Workbook 01:15:50
    23. Custom Views and Protected Workbooks 01:19:1:4151
    24. Custom Views and Protected Worksheets 01:21:41
    25. Sheet View (1/3) (Excel 2021+) 01:29:41
    26. Sheet View (1/3) (Excel 2021+) 01:35:02
    27. Sheet View (3/3) (Excel 2021+) 01:37:02
    28. What We Covered Today 01:39:04
    29. Now It’s Your Turn—But I’m Here If You Need Me! 01:39:55
    • David H. Ringstrom, CPA

      David H. Ringstrom, CPA

      David H. Ringstrom, CPA, is a nationally recognized instructor who leads dozens of Excel webinars each year. He is the author of Microsoft 365 Excel for Dummies and several other books. With over 30 years of consulting and teaching experience he empowers users to work more efficiently in E [...]

      View Full Profile

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    • Cell 00:21:01, 00:27:35, 00:48:10
    • Column 00:00:38, 00:09:30, 00:22:02, 00:37:30, 00:48:22, 01:06:08, 01:29:14
    • Custom Views 00:00:21, 00:01:42, 00:04:18, 00:06:39, 00:08:59, 00:21:28, 00:27:36, 00:51:24, 01:03:46, 01:12:47, 01:16:03,  01:20:51, 01:30:21
    • Dialog Box 00:06:34, 00:23:15, 00:27:5, 01:12:50
    • Filter 00:04:55, 00:08:19, 00:46:37, 01:30:14
    • Format 01:04:12
    • Freeze Panes 00:14:
    • Keyboard Shortcut 01:12:54
    • Landscape View 00:05:42, 01:06:26
    • Macros 00:59:36
    • Microsoft 365 00:01:50, 01:30:05
    • Page Layout Menu 01:13:40
    • Page Layout View 00:47:20
    • Portrait View 00:05:41, 01:05:56
    • Print Titles 01:14:01
    • Protect Sheet Command 01:20:46
    • Ribbon 00:07:06
    • Row 00:09:29, 00:37:40, 00:57:14, 01:29:15
    • Sheet View 00:06:14, 01:15:44
    • Slicer 00:20:54
    • Table 00:47:34, 00:56:57, 01:03:55
    • Table Feature 00:05:22, 00:47:44, 00:59:20, 01:15:06
    • Text Box 00:20:54
    • Workbook 00:00:03, 00:04:40, 00:07:25, 00:23:35, 00:27:08, 00:46:47, 00:59:11, 01:14:51
    • Worksheet 00:00:46, 00:04:38, 00:08:44, 00:20:52, 00:36:16, 00:58:59, 01:05:59, 01:14:52, 01:20:22
    • Zoom to Selection 00:13:27

    Cell: In spreadsheet applications, a cell is a box in which you can enter a single piece of data. The data is usually text, a numeric value, or a formula. The entire spreadsheet is composed of rows and columns of cells.

    Column: A column is a vertical series of cells in a chart, table, or spreadsheet in Excel.

    Custom Views: This feature stores a snapshot of the hidden/visible status of columns, rows, and worksheets, along with print settings and filter settings.

    Dialog Box: A dialog box in Excel is a screen where you input information and make choices about different aspects of the current worksheet or its content, such as data, charts, and graphic images.

    Filter: The Filter feature in Excel allows you to show or hide rows within a list of data by making selections from drop-down lists. The Filter feature is available on the Data tab of all versions of Excel as well under the Sort & Filter command on the Home menu.

    Format: When we format cells in Excel, we change the appearance of a number without changing the number itself. We can apply a number format (0.8, $0.80, 80%, etc) or other formatting (alignment, font, border, etc). By default, Excel uses the General format (no specific number format) for numbers.

    Freeze Panes: This command on the View tab of Excel’s ribbon interface, or the Window menu in Excel 2003 and earlier, allows you to ensure that one or more rows and/or columns always remain on-screen as you scroll down through a worksheet.

    Keyboard Shortcut: A keyboard shortcut is a series of one or several keys that invoke a software program to perform a preprogrammed action. This action may be part of the standard functionality of the operating system or application program, or it may have been written by the user in a scripting language.

    Landscape View: Portrait and Landscape are the terms used for the orientation of the page in applications that deal with pages, such as Word and Excel. A page with a landscape orientation is wider than it is tall.

    Macro: One or more lines of programming code that automate tasks. The Macro Recorder allows users to automate tasks without seeing the underlying programming code.

    Page Layout Menu: The Page Layout Tab holds all the options that allow you to arrange your document pages just the way you want them. You can set margins, apply themes, control of page orientation and size, add sections and line breaks, display line numbers, and set paragraph indentation and lines.

    Page Layout View: Page Layout View in Excel (found in the View tab or bottom-right corner) allows you to see exactly how your spreadsheet will appear when printed, acting as a real-time print preview. It enables editing of headers/footers, adjusting margins with rulers, and arranging data across pages, making it ideal for finalizing document layout.

    Portrait View: Portrait and Landscape are the terms used for the orientation of the page in applications that deal with pages, such as Word and Excel. Portrait means that the page has the shorter sides at top and bottom.

    Print Titles: Excel 2013's Print Titles feature enables you to print particular row and column headings on each page of the report. Print titles are important in multipage reports where the columns and rows of related data spill over to other pages that no longer show the row and column headings on the first page.

    Protect Sheet Command: To prevent other users from accidentally or deliberately changing, moving, or deleting data in a worksheet, you can lock the cells on your Excel worksheet and then protect the sheet with a password.

    Ribbon: The "ribbon" is the strip of buttons and icons located above the work area that was first introduced in Excel 2007. The ribbon replaces the menus and toolbars found in earlier versions of Excel. Above the ribbon are a number of tabs, such as Home, Insert, and Page Layout.

    Sheet View: Sheet View in Excel is a collaboration feature that allows users to filter and sort data in shared workbooks (SharePoint/OneDrive) without disrupting others' views. It creates personalized, temporary views that keep your sorting/filtering private while allowing real-time, shared cell edits. It is ideal for teams needing to analyze large datasets simultaneously.

    Slicer: You can insert slicers in Excel to quickly and easily filter pivot tables. Slicers were introduced in Excel 2010, and they make it easy to change multiple pivot tables with a single click

    Slicer Feature: A visual filtering feature available with pivot tables in Excel 2010 and tables and pivot tables in Excel 2013.

    Table: A table is an arrangement of data in rows and columns, or possibly in a more complex structure. Tables are widely used in communication, research, and data analysis. Tables appear in print media, handwritten notes, computer software, architectural ornamentation, traffic signs, and many other places.

    Table Feature : The Table feature in Excel 2007 and later is an improvement on the List feature in Excel 2003 and earlier. The Table feature provides enhancements that make it much easier to analyze lists of data.

    Text Box Feature : Available on the Insert menu of Excel 2007 and later, or the Drawing toolbar of Excel 2003 and earlier, the Text Box feature is the easiest way to place a paragraph or more of text in a spreadsheet.

    Workbook: In Microsoft Excel a workbook is a collection of one or more spreadsheets, also called worksheets, in a single file.

    Worksheets: A worksheet is a collection of cells where you keep and manipulate the data. Each Excel workbook can contain multiple worksheets.

    Zoom to Selection: You can zoom to the current selected range of cells with a single click of the Zoom to Selection icon.

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    Frequently Asked Questions

    Custom Views in Excel allow users to save and instantly restore specific display settings—including row and column visibility, zoom level, filter states, print settings, and frozen panes configurations—so they can switch between different perspectives on the same data without manually reconfiguring the view each time. To create a Custom View, configure the worksheet exactly as desired, then go to View > Custom Views > Add, and give the view a descriptive name. Multiple views can be saved for the same worksheet—for example, a 'Full Detail' view showing all columns, an 'Executive Summary' view hiding detail columns, and a 'Print View' configured for page layout. Switching between views is instantaneous: View > Custom Views > select the desired view > Show. Custom Views are particularly valuable for worksheets used by multiple audiences with different needs: a financial analyst may need all rows and columns visible, while a manager reviewing the same data needs only summary rows. Rather than maintaining separate workbooks or sheets for each audience, a single workbook with purpose-built views serves all users. Note that Custom Views are disabled when a workbook contains Excel Tables; in that case, named filter configurations and manual column hiding provide a similar outcome. Custom Views are saved within the workbook file and available to anyone who opens it.
    Excel Custom Views can capture complete print configurations alongside display settings, making it straightforward to maintain different print formats for the same worksheet without resetting page layout options each time. When creating a Custom View, check the 'Print settings' checkbox in the Add View dialog—this ensures that the current print area, page orientation, margins, scaling, header/footer configuration, and row/column print titles are all saved as part of the view. A single worksheet can then have multiple saved print views: for example, a 'Portrait Summary Print' view configured for a single-page portrait summary, and a 'Landscape Detail Print' view set for a multi-page landscape layout with all detail rows. Activating the appropriate view before printing instantly restores the correct page setup without requiring manual adjustment. This capability is especially valuable for monthly reporting workflows where the same dataset is printed in different formats for different recipients—the finance team receives a full-detail landscape report while the board receives a summarized portrait report, and a single worksheet with two saved print views serves both needs. For workbooks distributed to non-expert users, including a brief instruction note indicating which view to activate before printing reduces the risk of incorrectly formatted printouts.
    Hiding and unhiding rows and columns in Excel is a fundamental technique for adapting a single worksheet to multiple presentation contexts without duplicating data. To hide rows or columns, select the rows or columns to be hidden (by clicking their headers), right-click, and choose Hide—or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+9 for rows and Ctrl+0 for columns. Hidden rows and columns retain their data and continue to be included in formulas that reference them; they simply do not display or print. To unhide, select the rows or columns on either side of the hidden range, right-click, and choose Unhide—or press Ctrl+Shift+9 for rows and Ctrl+Shift+0 for columns. For a clean professional appearance when printing, hiding calculation helper columns, intermediate subtotal rows, and detail rows not relevant to the specific audience produces a more polished output. Combining row/column visibility settings with Custom Views makes switching between these configurations instantaneous. For protecting hidden rows from being accidentally revealed by other users, using worksheet protection with the 'Format rows' and 'Format columns' options unchecked prevents users from unhiding rows and columns while still allowing them to interact with visible cells. Group/Outline controls (Data > Group) provide an alternative where users can expand and collapse detail sections using visible +/- buttons rather than hiding and unhiding manually.
    Excel's Outline and Group features and Custom Views both address the challenge of showing different levels of detail in a worksheet, but they work differently and are suited to different use cases. The Outline/Group feature (Data > Group) creates a hierarchical structure with collapsible levels, indicated by numbered buttons (1, 2, 3) and +/- expand/collapse controls visible on the worksheet. Users can click the level buttons or +/- controls to instantly show or hide detail rows or columns without any view management overhead. This is ideal when multiple users need to interactively drill into or collapse sections of data—it is self-explanatory and requires no training. Custom Views, by contrast, save complete display state snapshots that are recalled as named configurations. They are more powerful for complex multi-setting combinations (including print settings) but are not as intuitively discoverable for end users unfamiliar with the feature. The two features can be used together: outline groupings define the detail levels available, while Custom Views save specific configurations of which levels are expanded and which print settings are active. For developer-designed worksheets distributed to non-technical users, Outline/Group controls are generally more user-friendly. For power users managing their own multi-purpose workbooks, Custom Views provide more comprehensive configuration control.
    Managing multiple worksheets in an Excel workbook effectively requires both organizational discipline and a thoughtful naming and structure strategy. Sheet tabs should be named clearly and consistently—descriptive names like 'Revenue Detail,' 'Expense Assumptions,' and 'Summary Dashboard' are far more useful than Sheet1, Sheet2, Sheet3. Color-coding sheet tabs (right-click > Tab Color) provides visual groupings: blue for input sheets, green for calculation sheets, red for output sheets, for example. Organizing sheets in a logical flow—inputs on the left, calculations in the middle, outputs on the right—matches the way most users expect to navigate. For large workbooks, sheet navigation shortcuts help: Ctrl+Page Up and Ctrl+Page Down move between adjacent sheets; right-clicking the navigation arrows at the bottom left of the screen shows all sheet names for quick direct navigation. Hiding intermediate calculation sheets that users don't need to interact with (right-click > Hide) keeps the workbook interface clean; protecting the workbook structure (Review > Protect Workbook) prevents users from accidentally unhiding them. For workbooks distributed to external parties, removing unused blank sheets, named ranges that reference deleted sheets, and any hidden data before distribution is good hygiene. Documenting the workbook structure in a README or 'How to Use This Workbook' sheet significantly reduces support burden for workbooks used by others.