How to Expand or Collapse Rows with Plus Sign in Excel (4 Easy Methods)

An Excel file may contain lots of complex and detailed information. To read and view them easily, Excel has the facility to group similar items, expand, and collapse them. In this article, we will discuss briefly how to expand and collapse rows with the plus sign in Excel.

How to Expand or Collapse Rows with Plus Sign in Excel: 4 Methods

In the following image, our dataset contains the sales for the months of March and April of 2022. We will group them based on months. Then we need to expand or collapse them based on criteria.

1. Use Group Feature to Expand or Collapse Rows Manually

In this section, we will use the Group feature to expand and collapse the dataset manually.

Steps:

• First, select all cells of March 22.
• Now, choose the Outline group from the Data tab.
• Select the Group option.

• The Group window will appear.
• Choose the Rows option and press OK.

• Look at the left side of the dataset.

There is a minus sign. When we press the minus sign, the dataset will collapse.

• We can see that the data of the Mar-22 are collapsing. A plus sign appears now.

If we want to extend the dataset, we need to click on the plus sign.

2. Expand and Collapse Multi-Level Rows in Excel

In the previous method, we expanded and collapsed the dataset of a single level. In the dataset below, we have data from different categories with their sub-category. Our data is already grouped with the month category.

Steps:

• Select 2 cells of Keyboard items of March.
• Choose the Outline group of the Data tab.
• Choose the Group option.

• We see that the minus sign appears on the left side.

We can collapse the data set now.

• In a similar way, we can apply grouping to the other data.

• We collapse the dataset.

In this way, we grouped the data with multi-level.

Read More: How to Create Collapsible Rows in Excel

3. Apply the Auto Outline Command

In this section, we will use the Auto Outline option to expand and collapse rows in Excel. This option can detect the category easily.

Steps:

• Go to any of the cells from the dataset.
• Select the Outline group from the Data tab.
• Now, choose the Auto Outline option from the Group.

• Look at the dataset now.

All data are grouped with requirements.

• Collapse the dataset by pressing the minus sign.

4. Expand Rows with Entire Outline

In this section, we will expand the collapse dataset. Our data is already grouped. We will expand them.

Steps:

• Select any of the cells. Choose the Outline option from the Data tab.
• Select the Show Detail.

• Look at the dataset.

Data are expanded here.

Expand and Collapse Columns with Plus Sign

We already showed how to expand and collapse rows. Now, we will see how to expand and collapse columns.

Steps:

• Then, go to the Data Select the Group option from the Outline.

• The Group window will appear. Mark the Columns option and then press OK.

• We notice that a minus sign appears at the top of the column indicator.

• When we click on the minus sign, the column will collapse.

Now, a plus sign is showing. If we press the plus sign the columns will expand.

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Conclusion

In this article, we described 4 methods to explain how to expand and collapse rows with the plus sign in Excel. We also showed how to expand and collapse the columns. I hope this will satisfy your needs. Please give your suggestions in the comment box.

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