How Do You Fix Missing Gridlines in Excel (5 Easy Ways)

Gridlines are called cell dividers. It is difficult to identify the cells correctly without gridlines when we have a large dataset. Gridlines give the cells a stable look to distinguish from each other. But sometimes we see that gridlines are missing. In this article, we will show how to fix missing gridlines in Excel.


How to Fix Missing Gridlines in Excel: 5 Easy Ways

Without gridlines, Excel sheets look unknown. Here, we will discuss 5 solutions to fix missing gridlines in Excel.

In the above image, we can see there is an Excel sheet without gridlines. Follow the solutions below to solve this problem.


1. Enable Gridlines View from View or Page Layout Tab

One of the reasons for missing gridlines may be turned off. There are two options to enable gridlines from Ribbon Options in Excel.

1.1 Enable Gridlines from View Tab

We can turn on gridlines easily from the View tab.

📌 Steps:

  • Go to the View tab.
  • Then, check the Gridlines option.

Fix Gridlines View from View or Page Layout Tab

  • Look at the sheet now.

Gridlines are there!


1.2 Enable Gridlines from Page Layout

There is another tab in the Ribbon to show gridlines from Page Layout.

📌 Steps:

  • Go to the Page Layout tab.
  • Check the View option.

Enable Gridlines View from View or Page Layout Tab


2. Make Changes to Default Gridlines Color

Excel gridlines have a default greyish color. Sometimes those greyish color is not visible properly. We can set the desired color of gridlines from the list.

📌 Steps:

  • Go to File >> Options.
  • The Excel Options window appears.
  • Go to the Advanced tab.
  • Find out the Display options for this worksheet section.
  • Check the Show gridlines option.
  • Click on the down arrow of the Gridline color.
  • A list of colors is shown. Choose our desired color from the list.

Change to Default Gridlines Color to fix

  • Finally, press OK.

We can see guidelines are showing perfectly.


3. Change Cell Fill Color That Overlaps with Gridlines

Here, we can not see the gridlines as cells are filled with a color.

Due to this reason, guidelines have disappeared. To solve this follow the steps below.

📌 Steps:

  • First, press Ctrl + A from the keyboard to select the whole sheet.

Change Cell Fill Color to fix Overlaps Gridlines

  • Go to the Fill Color option from the Home tab.
  • Click on the down arrow there.
  • Then, choose No Fill from the list.

Change Cell Fill Color to fix Overlaps Gridlines

  • Look at the worksheet.

Gridlines appear now.

Read More: How to Show Gridlines after Using Fill Color in Excel


4. Remove Conditional Formatting

Because of the applied rules of Conditional Formatting sometimes gridlines are disappeared. If so is the case, then we need to clear the rules of the condition formatting.

📌 Steps:

  • Go to Conditional Formatting from the Home tab.
  • Choose the Clear Rules option from the list.
  • We will get more options under this section. We will choose Clear Rules from Entire Sheet.

5. Check If Gridlines Color Is White and Apply a Different One

Sometimes gridlines do not show even when gridlines are enabled.

Due to the gridlines being white-colored this occurs. That time we need to change the color of the gridline.

📌 Steps:

  • Go to File >> Options.
  • After that, select the Advanced option for this Excel options window.
  • Go to the Display options for those worksheets section.
  • Press the down arrow of the Gridline color.
  • A list of colors will show.
  • Choose a color that will appear nicely.
  • Finally, press OK.

Check If Gridlines Color Is White and Apply a Different One to fix

  • Look at the worksheet.

Gridlines are showing exactly here.

Read More: [Fixed] Excel Gridlines Not Showing by Default


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Conclusion

In this article, we discussed 5 solutions to fix the missing gridlines in Excel. I hope this will satisfy your needs. Don’t forget to drop comments, suggestions, or queries if you have any in the comment section below.


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Alok Paul
Alok Paul

Alok Paul has completed his B.Sc. in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering from East West University. He has been working on the ExcelDemy project for more than 2 years. He has written 220+ articles and replied to numerous comments. He is experienced in Microsoft Office, especially in Excel. He also led some teams on Excel and VBA content development. He has a keen interest in Advanced Excel, Data analysis, Excel Pivot Table, Charts, and Dashboard. He loves to research... Read Full Bio

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