Gridlines in Excel: How to Add, Print, and Remove

In this guide, I will explain what Excel gridlines are, how to show or hide them when needed, how they differ from cell borders, and how they behave when a worksheet is printed.

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What Are Gridlines in Excel?

Gridlines, as you might guess, are the faint lines that appear between rows and columns in an Excel worksheet. People like them because they help you more easily read data, follow values across rows, and align info without adding any other kinds of formatting.

It’s important to note that gridlines are part of Excel’s default display, not cell formatting. They don’t represent borders, don’t affect the data itself, and can be shown or hidden without changing how the worksheet is structured.

How to Show or Hide Gridlines in Excel

You can control gridline visibility through Excel’s view settings. This allows you to adjust how a worksheet looks on screen without altering cell content or formatting.

Showing and hiding gridlines on a worksheet

You can toggle gridlines on or off using the ribbon in the steps below:

• Open the worksheet you want to adjust
• Go to the View tab
• In the Show group, check or uncheck Gridlines

You should note that this setting applies only to the currently active worksheet. Turning gridlines off in one sheet does not affect others in the same workbook. 

The steps for showing or hiding gridlines are the same across platforms, with the following interface differences:

• Excel for Windows and Mac: Gridlines are toggled from the View tab
• Excel for the web: Gridlines are also controlled from the View menu, though the layout may differ slightly

Managing gridlines across multiple worksheets

When you group multiple worksheets, changes to gridline visibility apply to all grouped sheets at the same time. This can be useful when you want consistent display settings across several worksheets.

If gridlines appear to turn off unexpectedly in multiple sheets, check whether the worksheets are still grouped. When this happens, ungroup the sheets to restore independent control over gridline settings.

Why Gridlines Sometimes Don’t Appear

If gridlines seem to be missing, it’s usually due to a display or formatting choice rather than a problem with the worksheet itself. The following are some of the possible causes for this issue:

• Cell background fill: When a fill color is applied to a cell, Excel hides the gridlines behind it. This can make gridlines appear to disappear even though they’re still enabled.
• Zoom and display settings: At very high or very low zoom levels, gridlines may appear faint or uneven, especially on high-resolution displays.
• View mode differences: Gridlines are visible in Normal view but may not appear in Page Layout or Page Break Preview, where Excel prioritizes print layout over on-screen guides.
• Worksheet-specific setting: As we have seen, gridlines can be turned off in one sheet and be available in another, especially when working with multiple sheets.

How to Remove Gridlines in Excel

In Excel, “removing” gridlines simply means hiding them from view; it does not affect your data or cell structure.

To hide gridlines in the active worksheet:

• Open the worksheet you want to adjust
• Go to the View tab
• In the Show group, uncheck Gridlines

Gridlines will immediately disappear from the current worksheet, but remember that this change applies only to that sheet and does not affect other worksheets in the workbook.

Gridlines vs. Cell Borders in Excel

Although gridlines and borders can look similar, they serve different purposes and behave differently.

Key differences

The table below summarizes the difference between gridlines and cell borders in Excel.

When to use borders instead of gridlines

Borders are a better choice when you need more control over layout and emphasis.

Use borders when

• Creating custom layouts or structured tables
• Highlighting specific sections or totals
• Preparing spreadsheets for presentation or printing, where visual consistency matters

How to Print Gridlines in Excel

By default, Excel does not print gridlines, even if they’re visible on screen.

To print gridlines:

• Go to the Page Layout tab
• In the Sheet Options group, check Print under Gridlines

You can also enable gridlines to print in the Page Setup dialog, under the Sheets tab.

If gridlines still don’t appear on printouts, it could be due to the following reasons:

• Gridline printing is disabled for that worksheet
• Cells use background fill, which hides gridlines
• The worksheet relies on gridlines instead of borders for structure

Customizing Gridlines (Color and Visibility)

Excel allows you to change the color of your gridlines. This is particularly useful if you need to improve on-screen visibility.

Use the steps below to change the gridline color at the application level:

• Open Excel Options
• Go to Advanced
• Scroll down to the Display options for this worksheet section.
• Click the Gridline color bucket and pick your shade.

Always remember that just like visibility, color changes only apply to the current worksheet. If you want a "theme" across your workbook, you’ll need to repeat this for each sheet.

Also, remember that custom colors are great for high-contrast needs, but bright colors can quickly become unnecessary due to their visual strain.

Best Practices for Using Gridlines in Excel

To keep your workbook functional and professional, follow these guidelines:

• Use gridlines during data entry and analysis to improve readability.
• Hide gridlines when preparing sheets for presentation or sharing, if they add visual noise.
• Use borders to define structure instead of relying on gridlines.
• Always review print settings separately, since gridlines and print behavior are controlled independently.

Conclusion

Gridlines serve as a visual aid in Excel, different from formatting like borders, helping you navigate cells without altering your data's structure. Understanding how they behave, especially across worksheets, views, and print settings, helps avoid common points of confusion when a spreadsheet doesn’t look the way you expect.

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