rs,

Try the macro below.

HTH,
Bernie
MS Excel MVP

Sub IsolateRegion()
If Selection(1, 1).Row <> 1 Then
Range(Range("1:1"), Selection(0, 1)).EntireRow.Hidden = True
End If
If Selection(1).Column <> 1 Then
Range(Range("A:A"), Selection(1, 0)).EntireColumn.Hidden = True
End If
If Selection(Selection.Cells.Count).Row <> 65536 Then
Range(Range("65536:65536"), Selection.Item(Selection.Cells.Count) _
.Offset(1, 0)).EntireRow.Hidden = True
End If
If Selection(Selection.Cells.Count).Column <> 256 Then
Range(Range("IV:IV"), Selection.Item(Selection.Cells.Count) _
.Offset(0, 1)).EntireColumn.Hidden = True
End If
End Sub

"tcebob" <handle @ gwi.net> wrote in message
news:OOydZjETFHA.612@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
> Here's the plan:
>
> User highlights a region. For simplicity beginning at A1.
> Suppose region is A1:i34.
> User invokes macro IsolateRegion.
> Macro selects all cols from J to end and hides them.
> Macro selects all rows from 35 to end and hides them.
> Done.
>
> Result: a page with no extraneous rows and columns.
>
> As I am not glib in Vbasic I hope you can offer a couple helps.
> 1. [Range("J1:iV65536").Select] -- while awkward -- is possible. But how
> does one identify the beginning cell from the region A1:i34?
> 2. is there a more general way to select to the end?
>
> Thanks
> rs
>
>