How to Make Grid Lines Bold in Excel (With Easy Steps)

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In this article, I will discuss how you can make grid lines bold in Excel. By default, Microsoft Excel uses black thin lines as gridlines. However, for a better representation of data, you can modify grid lines. This article will guide you to get bold grid lines. Besides, I will show you how to change the color of gridlines too.


How to Make Grid Lines Bold in Excel: Easy Steps

Suppose I have the below dataset where grid lines are not formatted. Now I will make these grid lines bold.

Steps to Make Grid Lines Bold in Excel

Follow the below steps to perform the task.


Step 1: Open Excel File and Select Grid Lines

  • First, open the Excel file.
  • Next, select the dataset where you want to get bold gridlines.
  • Then, from Excel Ribbon, go to Home > Borders icon (under the Font group).

Step 1: Open Excel File and Select Grid Lines

Note:

If you want to make all the gridlines bold then click on the triangle icon at the intersection of the column and row index. As a result, the entire worksheet will be selected.


Step 2: Use the ‘More Borders’ Option to Make Grid Lines Bold

  • Now click on the Borders drop-down and select More Borders.

Step 2: Use More Borders Option to Make Grid Lines Bold

  • Consequently, the Format Cells dialog will appear.
  • Then go to the Line section and choose a thicker line.
  • After that go to the Border section and put borders on all sides.
  • Click OK to close the dialog.


Step 3: Review the Changes

  • Upon pressing OK, we can see that all the grid lines in the selected dataset are converted to bold style.
  • From the below output, we can say that bold grid lines made the dataset more distinguishable.

Review the Changes


Change Color of Grid Lines Using Excel Options Feature

You can change the color of the gridlines from the Format Cells dialog. However, in this section, I will change the color of the gridlines of an entire worksheet using Excel Options.

Steps:

  • First, open an Excel sheet (say Sheet1) where you want to change the color gridlines and go to the File tab from the ribbon.

Change Color of Grid Lines Using Excel Options

  • Next, click on Options.

Change Color of Grid Lines Using Excel Options

  • As a consequence, the Excel Options dialog shows up. Then, select the Advanced option, go to the Display options for the worksheet section, and choose the worksheet.
  • Now click on the Gridline color icon and choose the color. After that press OK.

Change Color of Grid Lines Using Excel Options

  • Finally, we will get the below result. The color of the entire worksheet has become green.


Print Excel Grid Lines

Usually while printing data, excel does not print gridline sheets. If you want to show gridlines in print, follow the below steps.

Steps:

  • First, go to the specific worksheet.
  • Then select the Page Layout tab, go to the Sheet Options, and put a checkmark on the Print option under Gridlines.

Print Excel Grid Lines

  • Now press Ctrl + P and get gridlines in the print.


Download Practice Workbook

You can download the practice workbook that we have used to prepare this article.


Conclusion

In the above article, I have tried to discuss steps to make grid lines bold in Excel elaborately. Hopefully, these methods and explanations will be enough to solve your problems. Please let me know if you have any queries.


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Hosne Ara
Hosne Ara

Hosne Ara is a materials and metallurgical engineer who loves exploring Excel and VBA programming. To her, programming is like a time-saving superhero for dealing with data, files, and the internet. She's skilled in Rhino3D, Maxsurf C++, MS Office, AutoCAD, and Excel & VBA, going beyond the basics. With a B. Sc. in Materials and Metallurgical Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, she's shifted gears and now works as a content developer. In this role, she... Read Full Bio

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