AppGarden Personal Data and Sharing Check logo AppGarden

Personal Data and Sharing Check

Hidden tabs in Google Sheets™ aren't private: here's who can see them

By Paul Kemp · Published

Hiding a tab tidies a spreadsheet. It does not protect what is on it.

Who can see a hidden tab

Anyone you share the file with. An editor can unhide the tab from the sheet list in two clicks. A viewer cannot unhide it, but a viewer can usually make a copy or download the file, and the hidden tab comes along. The same goes for hidden rows and columns.

Charts and pivot tables that read from a hidden tab keep working, so the data can show through even while the tab stays hidden.

What this means in practice

A staff list with a hidden "Payroll" tab, shared with an accountant, a supplier or a volunteer, shares the payroll too. If that tab holds names, bank details or National Insurance numbers, it may be personal data you did not mean to hand over.

Check by hand

  1. Open the sheet list (the four-line icon at bottom left) and look for tabs shown in grey or italic. Choose Unhide on each.
  2. Decide whether every tab belongs in what you are sharing.
  3. Press Ctrl+End on each tab. It jumps to the corner of the used range, which finds data parked far outside the visible area.
  4. Check hidden rows and columns on the tabs you plan to share.

If something should not go

Delete it from a copy, not from the original. Deleted data survives in version history, and a copy starts without it.

About two minutes on a real sheet. The full walkthrough is on YouTube.

Check before you share

Personal Data and Sharing Check™ scans a Google Sheets™ file for personal data, including hidden tabs, notes and disguised text, and shows who can already see it. It shows masked samples only, never the full value. Checking is free, and your data stays in your browser.

Install from the Google Workspace Marketplace™

Google, Google Sheets™ and Google Workspace™ are trademarks of Google LLC. App Garden™ is not affiliated with or endorsed by Google. This is data-minimisation and sharing-hygiene guidance, not legal advice.

Google, Google Sheets™ and Google Workspace™ are trademarks of Google LLC. Personal Data and Sharing Check is not affiliated with or endorsed by Google.