Very Hidden Sheets in Excel: What They Are and How to Find Them

Hidden vs. Very Hidden: What's the Difference?

Excel sheets have three visibility states:

• Visible (xlSheetVisible) — Normal state, tab shows at the bottom
• Hidden (xlSheetHidden) — Tab hidden but appears in Unhide dialog
• Very Hidden (xlSheetVeryHidden) — Tab hidden AND excluded from Unhide dialog

Very hidden sheets were designed for developers building Excel applications. They're perfect for storing configuration data, lookup tables, or calculation engines that users shouldn't modify directly.

Why Would Someone Very Hide a Sheet?

Legitimate uses include:

• Storing lookup tables that formulas reference but users shouldn't edit
• Configuration sheets for VBA applications
• Intermediate calculation sheets in complex models
• Version control or metadata tracking

Less legitimate uses: hiding sensitive data from casual observers (though this isn't real security — anyone who knows about very hidden sheets can find them).

Finding Very Hidden Sheets: The VBA Method

The traditional way to reveal very hidden sheets requires VBA:

1. Press Alt+F11 to open the VBA editor
2. Press Ctrl+G to open the Immediate Window
3. Type: ActiveWorkbook.Sheets("SheetName").Visible = True
4. Press Enter

But wait — you need to know the sheet name first. To list all sheets and their visibility:

In the Immediate Window, type:
For Each ws In ActiveWorkbook.Sheets: Debug.Print ws.Name, ws.Visible: Next

Visibility values: -1 = Visible, 0 = Hidden, 2 = Very Hidden

The Properties Window Method

Slightly easier if you're already in the VBA editor:

1. Open VBA editor (Alt+F11)
2. Press F4 to show the Properties window
3. In the Project Explorer (Ctrl+R), click on any sheet
4. Find the Visible property in the Properties window
5. Change it from 2 - xlSheetVeryHidden to -1 - xlSheetVisible

What If Macros Are Disabled?

Here's where it gets tricky. If macros are disabled (common in corporate environments), you can't run VBA code to reveal sheets.

Options include:

• Ask IT to enable macros temporarily
• Use a third-party tool that can read sheet visibility without running macros
• Open the xlsx file as a ZIP archive and edit the XML directly (advanced)

Official Resources

• Hide or show worksheets — Microsoft visibility guide
• Worksheet.Visible property — VBA visibility reference