A dotted border is a feature of Microsoft Excel. It may be present in the worksheet by default or by manipulating some commands or options in Excel. In this article, I will show you how to add or remove a dotted border in Excel.
What Is Dotted Border in Excel?
The dotted border is not a permanent feature of Excel. You may add the border or remove or replace them as per your preference. Sometimes, users face some issues like being unable to remove dotted page break lines or gridlines. So, in this article, you will see how to add and remove the dotted border in Excel.
To show this procedure, I will use the following data set.
Add Dotted Border in Excel: 4 Easy Steps
The way to add a dotted border in Excel. For that, you have to follow some particular steps. See the below-given steps for adding a dotted border in Excel.
Step 1:
- First of all, choose the data set or a single cell around which you will add the border.
- Then, go to the Home tab of the ribbon, and in the Font group, click on the border icon.
Step 2:
- Secondly, the previous step will show you many border choices in a dropdown like the following picture.
- In order to add a dotted border, select More Borders.
Step 3:
- Thirdly you will see the Border tab opened in the Format Cells dialog box.
- Then, from the Style header select the first border style with a dotted line.
- After that, from the Presets header, select the latter two presets to apply the dotted border in the whole data range.
- Lastly, press OK.
Step 4:
- Finally, the above action will add the dotted border in the data set on your worksheet like the following image.
Read More: How to Insert Border in Excel
Remove Dotted Border in Excel: 3 Methods
In this section, I will show you three easy ways to remove the dotted border from Excel. Along with the dotted borders, sometimes users face issues with page break lines and gridlines. So, I will include the process of removing them in this section.
Method 1: Removing Dotted Cell Border
Unnecessary dotted borders are odd for a visual representation of the data set in Excel. By following some simple steps you can replace or remove it. For that, see the following steps.
Step 1:
- First of all, select the data set with a dotted border and go to the Home tab of the ribbon.
- Then in the Font group, select the border icon.
Step 2:
- Secondly, from the border choice dropdown, select any of the border styles as they are all made with solid lines.
Step 3:
- Thirdly, after choosing the style the dotted borders will be removed and replaced by solid borders.
Read More: How to Remove Borders in Excel
Method 2: Withdrawing Dotted Page Break Line
One of the most annoying issues regarding dotted borders is the dotted page breakline. It may appear in the data set after pressing the print command to print the sheet. If the page break line is unnecessary, you can withdraw it by following the below-given steps.
Step 1:
- Firstly, see the following image with a dotted page break line in it.
- As it will not be removed normally, I will show the exact procedure in the following steps.
Step 2:
- Secondly, in order to remove it, go to the File tab of the ribbon.
Step 3:
- Thirdly, you will see the Home window of Excel.
- From this window, select Options.
Step 4:
- Thirdly, in the Excel Options dialog box, go to the Advanced tab.
- Then, under the Display options for this worksheet, uncheck Show page breaks.
- Lastly, press OK.
Step 5:
- Finally, you will find your worksheet without any page breaks in it.
Read More: How to Remove Page Border in Excel
Method 3: Removing Dotted Gridlines
The last method will highlight removing dotted gridlines from a worksheet. Though the gridlines are not dotted, they can be assumed as one. To remove or turn off gridlines in a worksheet, follow the below-given steps.
Step 1:
- First of all, look at the following data set with gridlines around it.
Step 2:
- Secondly, to turn it off, go to the Show group under the View tab of the ribbon.
- Then uncheck the box that appears before the Gridlines feature.
Step 3:
- Finally, the previous action will remove or turn off the dotted gridlines from the worksheet.
Read More:Â How to Add Cell Borders Inside and Outside in Excel
Download Practice Workbook
You can download the free Excel workbook here and practice on your own.
Conclusion
That’s the end of this article. I hope you find this article helpful. After reading the above description, you will be able to add or remove the dotted border in Excel. Please share any further queries or recommendations with us in the comments section below.
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