WPS Auto Hide Content on macOS: Introduction

WPS Auto Hide Content is a privacy display control feature in Smart Spreadsheet; it includes 3 core tasks, with 3 available without membership and 0 membership-related items.

At a Glance

Metric	Value	Notes
Core tasks	3	Matches the number of rows in the How-to Index
Available without membership	3	Matches the number of Free rows in the index
Membership-related items	0	Matches the number of membership-related rows in the index

About This Feature

Overview

Auto Hide Content is a privacy protection feature in WPS Office for Mac Smart Spreadsheet. It helps hide the displayed content of selected cell ranges in collaborative sheets so unauthorized collaborators are less likely to view sensitive data directly.

Core tasks include:

Turn on Auto Hide Content from the right-click menu for the currently selected range.
Turn on Auto Hide Content from the Collaborate tab through Protect Range for toolbar-based access.
Manage hidden ranges after setup, including ignoring the first X rows, assigning specific people to manage content, or turning the hidden state off.

After the feature is enabled, hidden content is displayed as ●. The document owner, form fillers, and specified users can still view the original content.

System Requirements

Item	Requirement
Operating system	A Mac device that can run WPS Office normally
App version	It is recommended to use the latest version of WPS Office for Mac
Network	Local setup and management can work normally; for collaboration and permission sync, keep a network connection when possible
Other	Open a Smart Spreadsheet file and make sure you have the required editing or collaboration permissions

Download & Installation

Item	Details
Official download	WPS Office Free Download
Check after installation	Launch WPS Office for Mac, open a Smart Spreadsheet, select a cell range, and check whether the related entry appears in the right-click menu or the Collaborate tab

Source: WPS download page

Compare with Alternatives

Dimension	WPS	Microsoft	Google	Notion	Adobe
Capability Summary	Auto Hide Content can hide the displayed content of protected ranges in a spreadsheet, show hidden cells as `●`, and support follow-up management for authorized viewers.	Word can protect a document and allow selected parts to be edited by specific people, with a focus on restricting editing areas.	Google Docs provides granular access controls so admins and collaborators can manage who can edit, comment, download, share, or view a document.	Notion lets users control page, teamspace, and guest access levels to manage who can view, comment on, or edit content.	Acrobat Pro provides PDF redaction and hidden-information cleanup, with a focus on permanently removing sensitive content before sharing.
WPS Advantages	Advantage: WPS works at the spreadsheet cell-range level, hides on-screen content while keeping the underlying data, and supports later authorization management.	Compared with WPS: Microsoft focuses more on protected document sections and editing permissions, rather than hiding spreadsheet cell content with a placeholder display.	Compared with WPS: Google focuses on document-level sharing and permission controls, rather than hiding selected spreadsheet cell content with a masked display.	Compared with WPS: Notion focuses on page sharing and permission scope, not spreadsheet cell-range content hiding.	Compared with WPS: Adobe is better suited to permanent removal before external distribution, while WPS fits ongoing collaboration where data stays in place but display is hidden.
Official Source	—	Protected document editing	Google Docs product page	Sharing and permissions	Redact PDFs in Acrobat Pro

Overall Conclusion: If you need to keep original spreadsheet data while hiding what unauthorized collaborators see on screen, WPS is more aligned with that workflow. The other products also provide access control or sensitive-information handling, but they focus more on document permissions, page sharing, or permanent redaction.

Use Cases

No.	Scenario	Suitable Users	Core Need	How It Helps
1	Salary or performance sheet collaboration	HR teams, department managers	Multiple people need to work in one sheet, but sensitive values should not be visible to everyone	Turn on Auto Hide Content for selected ranges and allow viewing only for authorized people
2	Shared customer information sheets	Sales teams, operations teams	Contact details or identity fields should not be visible to all collaborators	Hide sensitive fields while keeping the sheet available for shared maintenance
3	Data entry sheets with fixed headers	Project members, form fillers	Data should be hidden without hiding the header rows	Use the ignore first X rows option to keep headers visible
4	Review by designated people	Reviewers, team leads	Only a small group should view original values for checking or handling	Use the assign specific people option to grant access to selected collaborators
5	Temporary hiding and later recovery	Sheet owners	Some data needs to stay hidden for a period and then return to normal display	Turn off Auto Hide Content from the management menu when the hidden state is no longer needed

Membership & Benefits

Free vs WPS Premium

Capability	Free Users	WPS Premium
Basic use of Auto Hide Content	Available	Available
Basic PDF features	Available	Available with a broader feature range
Cloud storage	1 GB	20 GB in some plans
Template resources	Limited access	More templates and advanced resources
AI tools	Some tools are limited	More AI tools are available, and some features have daily usage limits

Source: WPS Office pricing page

Recommendations

Usage Scenario	Recommended Plan	Why
You mainly need Auto Hide Content in Smart Spreadsheet	Free	The feature information shows no membership restriction for this workflow
You also need more cloud storage, templates, or extended office tools	WPS Premium	Better suited to users who need broader office-suite benefits beyond this feature

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