Excel: Print the Gridlines on a Worksheet
You can see the cell gridlines on screen, but they don’t show up when you print or in Print Preview.
Why: Gridlines are a screen aid — Excel does not print them by default. There’s a separate switch for putting them on paper.
Fix 1: Turn on Print under Gridlines
- Click the worksheet you want to print (or hold Ctrl and click tabs to select several).
- Go to the Page Layout tab.
- In the Sheet Options group, under Gridlines, tick the Print check box.
- Print as usual with File > Print (or Ctrl+P).
In the preview, gridlines print only around cells that actually contain a print area / data, not the whole blank page.
Fix 2: The Print check box is greyed out
If the boxes in Sheet Options look dimmed and won’t tick, you almost certainly have a chart, image, or other object selected on the sheet.
- Click any empty cell to deselect the object.
- The Gridlines > Print check box becomes available again — tick it.
Fix 3: Gridlines still don’t appear on paper
If Print is ticked but the lines still don’t come out:
- Open the Page Setup dialog: Page Layout, then the small launcher arrow at the bottom-right of the Page Setup group (or press Alt, P, S, P).
- On the Sheet tab, make sure Draft quality is unchecked — draft mode skips gridlines.
- Click OK and print again. If it’s still blank, update your printer driver.
FAQ
I want lines on specific cells, not the whole sheet. Apply real borders instead: select the cells, then Home > Borders > All Borders. Borders always print and you control exactly where they go. (This is also the only option in Excel for the web, which can’t print gridlines.)
Does ticking Print also change what I see on screen? No. The on-screen gridlines are controlled separately under Page Layout > Gridlines > View. The Print box only affects paper.
Can I print gridlines for several sheets at once? Yes — Ctrl-click the sheet tabs to group them first, then tick Print. Remember to ungroup afterwards (right-click a tab > Ungroup Sheets).