diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/storage-manager/storage-manager.js b/frontend/src/lib/storage-manager/storage-manager.js
index cb82a0006..8297627fa 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/storage-manager/storage-manager.js
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/storage-manager/storage-manager.js
@@ -50,6 +50,26 @@ export class StorageManager {
     }
   }
 
+  remove(key, options) {
+    if (options && options.lifetime !== undefined && !Object.values(LIFETIME).includes(options.lifetime)) {
+      throw new Error('StorageManager.load called with unsupported lifetime option');
+    }
+
+    const lifetime = options && options.lifetime !== undefined ? options.lifetime : LIFETIME.INFINITE;
+
+    switch (lifetime) {
+      case LIFETIME.INFINITE: {
+        var val = this.getFromLocalStorage();
+
+        delete val[key];
+      
+        return this.saveToLocalStorage(val);
+      }
+      default:
+        console.error('StorageManager.load cannot load item with unsupported lifetime');
+    }
+  }
+
   getFromLocalStorage() {
     const state = JSON.parse(window.localStorage.getItem(this.namespace));
     if (state === null) {
@@ -67,5 +87,4 @@ export class StorageManager {
   clearLocalStorage() {
     window.localStorage.removeItem(this.namespace);
   }
-
 }
diff --git a/frontend/src/utils/hide-columns/hide-columns.js b/frontend/src/utils/hide-columns/hide-columns.js
index e10627a71..c4a1f6f0f 100644
--- a/frontend/src/utils/hide-columns/hide-columns.js
+++ b/frontend/src/utils/hide-columns/hide-columns.js
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ const TABLE_HIDER_VISIBLE_CLASS = 'table-hider--visible';
 const TABLE_PILL_CLASS = 'table-pill';
 
 const CELL_HIDDEN_CLASS = 'hide-columns--hidden-cell';
+const CELL_ORIGINAL_COLSPAN = 'uw-hide-column-original-colspan';
 
 @Utility({
   selector: `[${HIDE_COLUMNS_CONTAINER_IDENT}] table`,
@@ -121,7 +122,7 @@ export class HideColumns {
     // reposition hider on each window resize event
     window.addEventListener('resize', () => this.repositionHider(hider));
 
-    this.updateColumnDisplay(th.cellIndex, preHidden);
+    this.updateColumnDisplay(this.colIndex(th), preHidden);
     this.updateHider(hider, preHidden);
 
     if (preHidden) {
@@ -135,22 +136,46 @@ export class HideColumns {
 
   switchColumnDisplay(th, hider) {
     const hidden = !this.isHiddenColumn(th);
+    const originalColspan = Math.max(1, th.getAttribute(CELL_ORIGINAL_COLSPAN)) || 1;
+    const colspan = Math.max(1, th.colSpan) || 1;
+    const columnIndex = this.colIndex(th);
 
-    this.updateColumnDisplay(th.cellIndex, hidden);
+    for (var i = 0; i < Math.max(colspan, originalColspan); i++) {
+      this.updateColumnDisplay(columnIndex + i, hidden);
+    }
     this.updateHider(hider, hidden);
 
     // persist new hidden setting for column
-    this._storageManager.save(this.getStorageKey(th), hidden);
+    if (hidden && this.isEmptyColumn(columnIndex)) {
+      this._storageManager.remove(this.getStorageKey(th));
+    } else {
+      this._storageManager.save(this.getStorageKey(th), hidden);
+    }
   }
 
   updateColumnDisplay(columnIndex, hidden) {
     this._element.getElementsByTagName('tr').forEach(row => {
-      const cell = row.cells[columnIndex];
+      const cell = this.getCol(row, columnIndex);
+
       if (cell) {
+        const originalColspan = cell.getAttribute(CELL_ORIGINAL_COLSPAN);
+        const colspan = Math.max(1, cell.colSpan) || 1;
+
         if (hidden) {
-          cell.classList.add(CELL_HIDDEN_CLASS);
+          if (colspan > 1) {
+            if (!originalColspan) {
+              cell.setAttribute(CELL_ORIGINAL_COLSPAN, colspan);
+            }
+            cell.colSpan--;
+          } else {
+            cell.classList.add(CELL_HIDDEN_CLASS);
+          }
         } else {
-          cell.classList.remove(CELL_HIDDEN_CLASS);
+          if (cell.classList.contains(CELL_HIDDEN_CLASS)) {
+            cell.classList.remove(CELL_HIDDEN_CLASS);
+          } else if (originalColspan && colspan < originalColspan) {
+            cell.colSpan++;
+          }
         }
       }
     });
@@ -215,20 +240,16 @@ export class HideColumns {
     // check for unique table header ident from backend (if not present, use cell index as fallback)
     let thIdent = th.getAttribute(TABLE_HEADER_IDENT);
     if (!thIdent) {
-      thIdent = th.cellIndex;
+      thIdent = this.colIndex(th);
     }
 
     return `${handlerIdent}__${tIdent}__${thIdent}`;
   }
 
   isEmptyColumn(columnIndex) {
-    for (let row of this._element.getElementsByTagName('TR')) {
-      if (row.children.length <= columnIndex) {
-        return;
-      }
-
-      const cell = row.children[columnIndex];
-      if (cell.tagName === 'TH')
+    for (let row of this._element.getElementsByTagName('tr')) {
+      const cell = this.getCol(row, columnIndex);
+      if (cell.matches('th'))
         continue;
       if (cell.querySelector('.table__td-content')) {
         for (let child of cell.children) {
@@ -244,10 +265,47 @@ export class HideColumns {
 
   isHiddenColumn(th) {
     const hidden      = this._storageManager.load(this.getStorageKey(th)),
-          emptyColumn = this.isEmptyColumn(th.cellIndex);
+          emptyColumn = this.isEmptyColumn(this.colIndex(th));
     return hidden === true || hidden === undefined && emptyColumn;
   }
 
+  colSpan(cell) {
+    if (!cell)
+      return 1;
+    
+    const originalColspan = cell.getAttribute(CELL_ORIGINAL_COLSPAN);
+    const colspan = Math.max(1, cell.colSpan) || 1;
+
+    return originalColspan ? Math.max(colspan, originalColspan) : colspan;
+  }
+
+  colIndex(cell) {
+    if (!cell)
+      return 0;
+
+    const rowParent = cell.closest('tr');
+
+    if (!rowParent)
+      return 0;
+
+    var i = 0;
+    for (const sibling of Array.from(rowParent.cells).slice(0, cell.cellIndex)) {
+      i += this.colSpan(sibling);
+    }
+
+    return i;
+  }
+
+  getCol(row, columnIndex) {
+    var c = 0;
+
+    for (const cell of row.cells) {
+      c += cell ? this.colSpan(cell) : 1;
+
+      if (columnIndex < c)
+        return cell;
+    }
+  }
 }
 
 function isEmptyElement(element) {