How to Remove Gridlines in Google Sheets

Written by Ivana Google Workplace / Sheets

- 5 min read

To hide the gridlines in Google Sheets:

  1. Click on the 'View' tab in the toolbar.
  2. Go to ‘Show’ and click on the ‘Gridlines’ option to unselect it.

 

To remove the gridlines in Google Sheets when printing a file:

  1. Click on 'File'.
  2. Select 'Print'.
  3. Click on ‘Formatting and uncheck the box next to the ‘Show Gridlines’ option.

While working on a dataset in Google Sheets, you may want to remove the gridlines to create a cleaner look.

The gridlines are, by default, applied to Google Sheets. They are the grey lines that separate the cells and make the data look organized.

But, sometimes, you may need to hide the gridlines in Google Sheets in a certain range of cells to make them stand out in your dataset.

In this quick tutorial, we’ll show you how to remove the gridlines in Google Sheets and how to show gridlines if you want to bring them back.

How to remove gridlines in Google Sheets

Gridlines are different from the borders that you add to cells to make them more visible. If you remove the grid in Google Sheet, it won’t remove any added borders or formatting you’ve applied to your cells.

That being said, these are the steps to hide the gridlines in Google Sheets:

  1. Open the Google Sheets file in which you want to remove the gridlines.
  2. Click on the ‘View’ tab in the main menu bar.

Click on the 'View' tab

  1. Go to ‘Show’ and click on the ‘Gridlines’ option to unselect it.

Select 'Show’ > 'Gridlines'

Now, you’ll notice that the gridlines in the Google Sheets file are gone.

If you want to bring the gridlines back, just go to View > Show and select the ‘Gridlines’ option.

Check out also how to unhide rows in Google Sheets.

If you want to show the gridlines in a specific range of cells, first remove the gridlines with the steps above. Then follow the steps below to add a border to a selected range of cells.

  1. Select the range of cells where you want to add the border.
  2. Click on the ‘Borders’ icon in the menu bar.

Click on the 'Borders' icon

  1. Select the first option to apply borders to the selected range of cells.

You can also make your worksheet more visually appealing by coloring every other row in Google Sheets.

How to hide gridlines when printing Google Sheets

When you print a Google Sheets document, you’ll notice that the worksheet comes out with gridlines.

If you don’t want the worksheet to be printed with the gridlines, but you want to keep them in the online document, you can remove the gridlines from the printed version only.

  1. Select the range of cells you want to print. If you’re going to print the whole worksheet, proceed to the next step.
  2. Click on ‘File’ in the toolbar.

Click on 'File'

  1. Select the ‘Print’ option. Alternatively, use the keyboard shortcut Control + P on Windows and Command + P on Mac.

Select 'Print'

  1. In the Print settings screen, click on the ‘Formatting’ option in the right panel and uncheck the box next to the ‘Show Gridlines’ option.

Uncheck the box next to 'Show Gridlines’

  1. Finally, click on ‘Next’ and print your sheet.

This is how to remove the gridlines when printing a Google Sheets document. However, if you’ve applied borders to a range of cells, you can’t remove them from the Print settings screen. If you don’t want the borders to be printed on the sheet, you need to do it in the worksheet in the Borders tab.

If you want to learn more Google Sheets tips, read our guide on how to group rows and columns In Google Sheets.