How To Print Gridlines in Excel

Do you want to learn how to print grid lines in Excel?

These faint lines help visually separate your data. However, Excel doesn’t always print them by default. Thankfully, printing gridlines is a simple setting adjustment.

In this article, we’ll walk you through the steps to ensure your gridlines appear when you print.

Printing Gridlines Using the Page Layout Tab

This method is straightforward and user-friendly. It allows you to quickly enable gridlines for printing without making permanent changes to your sheet.

1. Open your Excel worksheet: First, open the worksheet where you want to print gridlines.

2. Navigate to the Page Layout tab: You'll find several tabs at the top of Excel. Click on the Page Layout tab. This tab provides various options related to the layout and appearance of your printed document.

3. Locate the Sheet Options group: Look for the Sheet Options group in the Page Layout tab. This group contains options related to both gridlines and headings.

4. Enable Print Gridlines: Within the Sheet Options group, you’ll see two categories: Gridlines and Headings. Under Gridlines, there’s a checkbox labeled Print. Check this box to enable the printing of gridlines. This ensures that the gridlines will appear on paper when you print the sheet.

5. Print the worksheet: Once the Print box is checked, you can proceed to print your worksheet. Go to File > Print to preview the printout. You’ll notice the gridlines are visible in the print preview.

Printing Gridlines Using Print Settings

This method offers more flexibility. You can fine-tune other print settings, like adjusting margins or scaling the sheet, while ensuring the gridlines are printed. It's suitable for larger or more complex worksheets where precision is needed.

1. Open your workbook: Begin by opening the Excel sheet.

2. Go to the Print menu: Click on the File tab in the top-left corner of the screen. This will open the File menu, where you can find the Print option. Click Print to bring up the print preview window.

3. Access Page Setup: In the print preview window, you’ll notice a few options on the left side and the print preview on the right. Scroll down and click on the Page Setup link at the bottom. This opens up the page setup dialog box, where you can adjust various print settings.

4. Enable Gridlines in the Sheet tab: Click on the Sheet tab in the Page Setup window. Here, you’ll find a section labeled Print that contains several checkboxes. Check the Gridlines box to enable printing of the gridlines.

5. Print the worksheet: After enabling the gridlines in the Sheet tab, click OK to close the window. You’ll return to the print preview screen, where you can now see the gridlines in the preview. From here, you can print the worksheet with the gridlines visible.

Printing Gridlines by Converting Them to Borders

This involves permanently adding visible borders to the worksheet. Use it when you want a consistent appearance on-screen and in printed form. Unlike gridlines, these borders will stay even if you share the file with others or turn off gridline display in Excel.

1. Select the cells you want gridlines: Begin by selecting the range of cells where you want the gridlines to appear. Depending on your needs, you can select an entire worksheet or just a specific section.

2. Open the Borders tool: Go to the Home tab in Excel. You’ll see an icon for Borders (a square with borders around it) in the Font group. Click the small arrow next to this icon to see a dropdown menu of border options.

3. Apply borders to selected cells: In the dropdown menu, you’ll find various border options, such as Outside Borders, All Borders, and more. Select All Borders to apply a border around each cell in your selected range. This will visually replicate gridlines in your worksheet.

4. Adjust border style (Optional): If you want to customize the appearance of the cell borders, you can click on More Borders from the dropdown menu. This allows you to change the line style, color, and thickness of the borders, giving you more control over how your data will look in print.

5. Print the worksheet: Once the borders are applied, they will always appear on screen and in print. You can now go to File > Print and preview the sheet. The borders will show up, ensuring your data remains neatly separated.

How To Change the Color of Printed Grid Lines

You can't directly modify the color of the default gridlines. However, you can simulate colored gridlines by applying custom borders to your cells. Here's how:

1. Select the range of cells: First, highlight the cells where you want the colored gridlines to appear. You can select an entire worksheet or just specific sections.

2. Open the Borders tool: Click the Home tab. In the Font group, click the Borders button (a square with lines around it). Choose More Borders at the bottom from the dropdown menu.

3. Customize the border color: In the Format Cells window, navigate to the Border tab. You’ll see options to customize the line style and color. Select the color you want for your borders by clicking the Color dropdown.

4. Apply the borders: After selecting your desired color, click the buttons in the Border section. For gridline-like appearance, click the buttons for Inside and Outline borders. This will apply borders to all sides of the selected cells.

5. Print the worksheet: Once the borders are applied, they will appear in your selected color. Go to File > Print to preview how the borders look. You can now print your sheet with colored gridlines.

Final Thoughts on "How To Print Gridlines in Excel"

The best way to print gridlines in Excel is through the Page Layout tab. Simply check the Print box under the Gridlines section in the Sheet Options group. This method is quick, non-intrusive, and ensures gridlines print without changing how your worksheet appears on screen.

You can visit our homepage for more easy-to-follow how-to and step-by-step guides. Check the links in related articles for further details about Excel/Google Sheets Templates!

FAQ on "How To Print Gridlines in Excel"

1. Why aren't my gridlines printing in Excel?
Gridlines don’t print by default. You need to enable them through the Page Layout tab or print settings.

2. Can I change the color of gridlines when printing?
Excel doesn't allow direct color changes for gridlines. However, you can apply colored borders to cells to achieve the same effect.

3. Will the gridlines still show if I share my file?
Gridlines are a view setting and won’t appear in shared files unless you apply borders. Borders, unlike gridlines, will be visible to everyone.

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