To remove gridlines in Excel, go to the View tab and clear the Gridlines check box in the Show group. The faint gray lines disappear from the current worksheet right away. Your data, formatting, and borders don’t change.
The setting only affects the sheet you’re looking at, and gridlines don’t print unless you turn on printing for them. The steps below are for Excel for Microsoft 365, Excel 2024, 2021, 2019, and 2016 on Windows, with notes for Mac and the web.
Hide gridlines on a worksheet
- Open the worksheet you want to change.
- Select the View tab on the ribbon.
- In the Show group, clear the Gridlines check box.
The sheet now shows plain white space between cells. To bring the lines back, check the same box again.
You can also use Page Layout > Sheet Options and clear View under Gridlines. It’s the same setting in a different spot. On Windows, pressing Alt, then W, V, G one after another toggles gridlines from the keyboard.
Excel for Mac: Select the View tab or the Page Layout tab and clear the Gridlines check box.
Excel for the web: Select the View tab and clear Gridlines in the Show group.
Hide gridlines on several sheets at once
Each worksheet has its own gridline setting. A new sheet you add will still show gridlines. To change several existing sheets in one go:
- Click the first sheet tab.
- Hold Ctrl and click each other sheet tab you want. To pick every sheet, right-click any tab and choose Select All Sheets.
- Go to View and clear Gridlines.
- Right-click any selected tab and choose Ungroup Sheets.
Don’t skip the last step. While sheets are grouped, anything you type or format lands on every sheet in the group.
Hide gridlines in only part of a sheet
Gridlines are all or nothing for a sheet. Microsoft notes they can’t be turned off for specific cells. You can get the same look with a fill color, though:
- Select the cells where you want the lines to disappear.
- On the Home tab, select the arrow next to Fill Color.
- Choose White.
Any fill color hides the gridlines in those cells, including white. To show them again, pick No Fill instead.
Why lines are still showing
If lines remain after you clear Gridlines, they aren’t gridlines. Here are the usual causes.
- Cell borders. Borders are formatting you or someone else added, and they stay visible and print. Select the cells and choose Home > Borders > No Border, or follow our guide to removing borders in Excel.
- Table styles. An Excel table can add its own lines and banded rows. You can clear the table formatting to remove them.
- Dotted page break lines. These appear after you use Print Preview or Page Layout view. Closing and reopening the file clears them. You can also turn off Show page breaks in File > Options > Advanced, under Display options for this worksheet.
Gridlines and printing
Gridlines don’t print by default, so hiding them on screen won’t change a printout. If they do show up on paper, go to Page Layout > Sheet Options and clear Print under Gridlines.
Want the reverse, with lines on paper? Check Print in the same place. Microsoft’s guide to printing gridlines covers what to check when they won’t appear.
Common questions
Can I make gridlines lighter instead of hiding them?
Yes. On Windows, go to File > Options > Advanced. Under Display options for this worksheet, pick a new Gridline color and select OK.
Do other people see my gridline setting?
Yes. The setting is saved with the workbook, so the sheet opens without gridlines for anyone who views it in Excel.
Can I turn gridlines off for all new workbooks?
Not with a single switch. Each new sheet starts with gridlines on. If you want that often, save a workbook with gridlines hidden as a template and start new files from it.
Microsoft’s page on showing or hiding gridlines has the same steps for each version of Excel.
