Remove Select Data in Win7 Excel Starter

I think this is a simple question, but apparently I don't know how to phrase it to the search engines to generate relevant results. I hope that someone here can help or redirect me to the answer.

I have a spreadsheet that was created in Excel Starter on Win7. We would like to share a copy of this spreadsheet with other people, but there are a couple of columns that should be removed before we do that. We want to clear the content of columns J and K without effecting the content in the rest of the spreadsheet. Everything I have tried so far results in all of the data disappearing when J and K are cleared. Please advise.

Thanks!
Jordan

Clearly these two columns are referenced by the other columns? Have you tried hiding these two columns instead?

Sorry, I'm still a bit of a novice when it comes to Excel. I didn't create this spreadsheet but my guess is that, yes, they are referenced. Per your advise I have hidden the columns. Do you think this is sufficiently secure when sharing the file? If I send this file to our customers, will it remain hidden and undiscoverable?

Thanks very much for your input, Kassie.

Jordan

I'd be happy to hear anyone's insight on this. At my business we sell Wholesale as well as Retail, and there is information in the spreadsheet which is intended for certain customer groups only. Is "hiding" the information the best solution? Will it remain hidden if I send copies to our customers?

Thanks again,
Jordan