Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Changing Gridline Color.

Changing Gridline Color

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 11, 2022)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365


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The gridlines help you track information on the screen easier and to locate cells quickly. Normally the gridlines are shown in black, but you may want to make them some other stylish color. If you want to change the gridline color, follow these steps:

  1. Display the Excel Options dialog box. (In Excel 2007 click the Office button and then click Excel Options. In Excel 2010 or a later version display the File tab of the ribbon and then click Options.)
  2. At the left of the dialog box click Advanced.
  3. Scroll through the options until you see the Show Gridlines check box; select it. (It is in the Display Options for this Worksheet section.) (See Figure 1.)
  4. Figure 1. The Advanced options of the Excel Options dialog box.

  5. Click the Gridline Color control and choose a color you want to use for the gridlines.
  6. Make sure the Show Gridlines check box is selected.
  7. Click on OK.

You can specify different gridline colors for each worksheet in a workbook.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (8728) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Changing Gridline Color.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

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What is 2 + 5?

2020-05-28 16:54:48

Peter Atherton

With regards to John Mann's post: it works on grouped sheets in 2016


2020-05-27 14:01:15

Allen

It really is there Katherine -- Click File and then, at the left side of the screen look all the way near the bottom and you'll see "Options." Click that.

-Allen


2020-05-27 13:21:31

Katherine

There is no "options" in the back menu of excel in office 365 so this doesn't work for 365.


2019-10-19 18:28:06

John Mann

I hadn't paid much attention to this option - so much so that I had forgoten it exists. I've just been experimenting a bit with this option and note that it doesn't work on grouped worksheets (at least not in my copy of Excel 2010).

It does occur to me that it would be usefull to use the same colour for the grid and the tabs. This could help with keeping track of which sheet we are working on when we have several sheets with similar (or identical) layout. I have often missed the thin but obvious line across the screen matching the tab colour used by Lotus 1-2-3. While it would not be a terible hardship to manually make that combination, it would be nice to automate it.


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