Missing Gridlines

[Kata Davis]

All of a sudden, the gridlines in excel are not showing by default. Every sheet I open I have to go to advance setting options and click the black gridline color option. I've tried all the troubleshooting suggestions, and nothing is working. Please help!!!

 

[shamimarita]

Hello Kata Davis,

It sounds like Excel’s gridline color might have been changed globally, which sometimes happens after theme or display updates. Let’s go through a few checks to restore the default gridlines permanently:

1. Check Gridline Visibility from the View Tab:
   • Go to the View tab on the Ribbon.
   • In the Show group, make sure the Gridlines checkbox is ticked.
   • If it’s unchecked, gridlines won’t appear even if they’re enabled in Options.
2. Reset Gridline Color:
   • Go to File ➜ Options ➜ Advanced.
   • Under Display options for this worksheet, make sure Show gridlines is selected.
   • Set Gridline color to Automatic (not black or custom).
   • Click OK to save changes.
3. Apply to All Worksheets:
   • If the issue persists, right-click any sheet tab → Select All Sheets → then adjust the gridline color once; it’ll apply to all sheets.
4. Check Excel Theme or Display Mode:
   • Dark Mode or high-contrast themes can make gridlines appear faint. Try switching to Light Mode to confirm.
5. Repair or Reset Excel Profile (if needed):
   • Close Excel → go to Control Panel ➜ Programs ➜ Microsoft Office ➜ Change ➜ Quick Repair.
   • Or start Excel in Safe Mode (Ctrl + click Excel icon) to check if an add-in is causing the problem.

Please try enabling View → Gridlines and setting the color to Automatic, this usually restores the gridlines permanently.