[Fixed!] Missing Gridlines in Excel When Printing (5 Solutions)

Sometimes you may need to print out your data or Excel spreadsheets. In that case, if there are gridlines then it will be easy to read the data. But, sometimes there may be missing Gridlines in Excel when printing. So, in this article, I will explain how to fix missing Gridlines in Excel when printing.

Here, I will describe 5 possible ways to fix missing Gridlines in Excel when printing. In addition, for your better understanding, I’m going to use a sample data set named Missing Gridlines When Printing. Which contains 3 columns. These are Student ID, Test Score, and Status. The dataset is given below.

1. Using Page Layout Ribbon in Excel

If your Gridlines are not selected from Sheet Options then it won’t be visible when printing. First, you will need to check whether it is selected or not.

It is mandatory to keep gridlines visible in Excel when printing, by adding a tick mark on the Print option under Gridlines.

To check the options follow the steps given below.

Solution:

• Firstly, you have to open your worksheet in Excel.
• Secondly, you must go to the Page Layout ribbon. Here, you can also use Excel keyboard shortcuts ALT+P to go to the Page Layout ribbon.
• Thirdly, from the Sheet Options >> Click tick mark to Print under Gridlines option.
• Finally, you need to click on the Drop-Down Arrow to see the printing draft.

At this time, a dialog box named Page Setup will appear.

• Here, you must make sure that the Gridlines option of Print section under Sheet command is marked.
• Now, you need to select the Print Preview option from that Page Setup dialog box.

After that, you will see the following page layout which includes the Gridlines.

Thus, you should use the Page Layout ribbon to fix missing Gridlines in Excel when printing.

Read More: How to Print Gridlines in Excel Online

2. Changing Gridlines Color

Sometimes, there are such cases when you keep on the Gridlines while printing but still the Gridlines are not visible to the printed copies. In that case, perhaps, the Gridlines color becomes  White. If the Gridlines color becomes White then the Gridlines will not be visible in the printed copies.

Basically, this method is for checking purposes that either the Gridline color becomes White or remains auto-selected Grayish.

Now, let’s make changed the Gridlines color to fix missing Gridlines in Excel when printing. So, the steps are given below.

Solution:

• At first, you need to go to the File ribbon.

• Now, you have to select the Options command.

At this time, a dialog box named Excel Options will appear.

• Now, you need to select the Advanced feature.
• Then, from Gridline color >> choose your preferred color. Here, I have chosen green. Or, you can keep the Automatic color.
• Finally, you must press OK to make the changes.

• Now, you must go to the Page Layout ribbon.
• Then, from the Sheet Options >> Click the tick mark to Print under Gridlines option.
• Finally, you need to click on the Drop-Down Arrow to see the printing draft.

At this time, a dialog box named Page Setup will appear. Here, I will select the printing area.

• Now, from the Sheet command in the Page Setup dialog box >>  you may go to Drop-Down Arrow which is adjacent to the Print area.

• At this time, you need to select the data up to which you want to print them. Here, I have selected the data range A1:E11.
• Then, you must click on the Drop-Down Arrow to go back to the whole Page Setup dialog box.

• Here, you must make sure that the Gridlines option of Print section is marked.
• Finally, you need to press OK to make changes.

Now, if you go to the Print Preview option then you can see the following result which has visible Gridlines.

Hence, you should check the Gridlines Color.

3. Checking the Fill Color of the Printing Area

Suppose, you filled the background of a dataset with colors. In such a case, if you print the Excel spreadsheet then the Gridlines won’t be visible in the printed copies. I have given an example of this below.

Here, the following dataset is filled with a background color.

Now, let you have marked the Print under the Gridlines option.

But, if you preview the printing draft then you will see no Gridlines in that paper. Here, I have attached the printing draft below.

So, you can follow the steps, given below to solve the problem of missing Gridlines in Excel when printing.

Solution:

• Firstly, you need to select the data range up to which you want to print. Here, I have selected the range A1:E11.
• Secondly, you may go to the Home tab. Or, you can use the Context Menu Bar option for this. Where you will also get the Fill Color feature.

• Now, from the Fill Color feature >> you must choose No Fill option.

At this time, you will see the following changes.

• Now, you must go to the Page Layout ribbon.
• Then, from the Sheet Options >> Click the tick mark to Print under the Gridlines option.

Here, I have also changed the Title of my dataset to “Applying No Fill Color” in the following image.

At this moment, if you preview the printing draft then you will be able to see the Gridlines. The result is given below.

Briefly, you must not use a background color to keep the Gridlines in Excel when printing.

Read More: How to Print Gridlines with Fill Color in Excel

4. Removing Conditional Formatting

If there is any Conditional Formatting, then you may not see the Gridlines in the printing copies. So, you can remove the Conditional Formatting to fix missing Gridlines in Excel when printing. The steps are given below.

Solution:

• Firstly, you need to select the data range up to which you want to print. Here, I have selected the range B2:D10.
• Secondly, you may go to the Home tab.
• Thirdly, from the Conditional Formatting >> you have to choose Clear Rules option.

• Now, from the Conditional Formatting >> you need to select Clear Rules from Selected Cells under the Clear Rules option.

• Now, you must go to the Page Layout ribbon.
• Then, from the Sheet Options >> you have to check Print under the Gridlines option.

At this time, if you preview the printing draft then you will be able to see the Gridlines. The result is given below.

Read More: How to Print Excel Sheet with Lines

5. Using Context Menu Bar to Format Cells

Sometimes, the Gridlines won’t be visible in the printed copies for using White-colored Inside or Outside Border.

Thus, you have to Re-Format the cells. Here, you can use the Context Menu Bar to solve this problem. The steps are given below.

Solution:

• At first, you may select the data.
• Then, you have to Right-click on the data.
• Finally, from the Context Menu Bar >> you need to select the Format Cells option.

Subsequently, a dialog box named Format Cells will appear.

• Now, from that Format Cells dialog box >> you have to go to the Border option.
• Then, you need to select None.
• Alternatively, you can check the Color whether it is Automatic or not. If the Color becomes White then you can make it to any visible colors.
• Finally, you must press OK to make the changes.

Last but not least, you will see the following formatted cells.

At this time, if you preview the printing draft then you will be able to see the Gridlines. The result is given below.

💬 Things to Remember

• Always, you must check the Print option under Gridlines to get the Gridlines in Excel while printing.

Practice Section

Now, you can practice the explained method by yourself.

Download Practice Workbook

You can download the practice workbook from here:

Conclusion

I hope you found this article helpful. Here, I have explained 5 ways to fix missing gridlines in Excel when printing. Please, drop comments, suggestions, or queries if you have any in the comment section below.

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