Why Do Gridlines Disappear in Excel? (5 Reasons with Solutions)

Solution 1 – Gridlines Disappear in Excel If Those Are Turned off

If Gridlines are turned off then the Gridlines will not be visible in Excel.

To check if the Gridlines are turned off, follow the steps.

Steps:

  • From the View tab put a tick mark on Gridlines.

why do Gridlines disappear in excel

This will make the Gridlines appear in Excel.


Solution 2 – Gridlines Disappear in Excel When Color Overlay Is Set to White

If the Background Color of a cell is set to “White” instead of no Fill, the Gridlines disappear in Excel.

why do Gridlines disappear in excel

To change the background cell color to “White”, follow these steps-

Steps:

  • Select the cells that have no Gridlines.
  • From the Home tab >>> Fill Color >>> select No Fill.

Gridlines are visible now.

why do Gridlines disappear in excel


Solution 3 – When Cell Borders Are White Then Gridline Disappear in Excel

If the cell borders are “White” the Gridlines are not visible. To fix this problem, follow the steps.

Steps:

  • Select the cell range B5:D10.
  • From the Home tab >>> Border >>> select More Borders…

why do Gridlines disappear in excel

The Format Cells dialog box will appear.

  • Select “Automatic” in the “Color:” box.
  • Select “Outline” and “Inside” from the Presets.
  • Press OK.

 

why do Gridlines disappear in excel

Read More: Excel Fix: Gridlines Disappear When Color Added


Solution 4 – If Conditional Formatting Is Used Then Gridlines Disappear in Excel

If our dataset has some Conditional Formatting applied, Gridlines disappear in Excel.

To fix this problem, follow these steps.

Steps:

  • Select our cell range B4:D10.
  • From the Home tab >>> Conditional Formatting >>> Clear Rules >>> click on “Clear Rules from Selected Cells”.

why do Gridlines disappear in excel

The Gridlines are visible now.


Solution 5 – When Gridlines Are White They Disappear

When the gridline color is “White”, we’ll not see it. To fix this, follow the steps below.

why do Gridlines disappear in excel

Steps:

  • Click on the File tab.

  • Click on Options.

why do Gridlines disappear in excel

The Excel Options window will appear.

  • Click on Advanced.
  • Under “Display options for this worksheet:change the “Gridline color” to “Automatic”.
  • Press OK.

 

why do Gridlines disappear in excel


Note: If none of the 5 methods work for you, then you may want to tweak your Brightness and Contrast settings to make the Gridlines visible.


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Rafiul Haq
Rafiul Haq

Rafiul Haq worked as an Excel and VBA Content Developer in Exceldemy for over two years and published almost 200 articles for the website. He is passionate about exploring new aspects of Excel and VBA. He received his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical and Production Engineering (MPE) from the Islamic University of Technology. Rafiul furthered his education by obtaining an MBA in Finance from the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) at the University of Dhaka. Apart from creating... Read Full Bio

2 Comments
  1. Hi I really appreciate the exacting methodology you have used to explain how to make adjustments to Excel and regain lost gridlines. Well done!

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