Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, and 2013. 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: Controlling Display of Page Breaks.
There are two types of page breaks that can appear in an Excel worksheet: manual or automatic. You insert page breaks manually by using the Breaks tool on the Page Layout tab of the ribbon. Automatic page breaks are those that are calculated by Excel based on various settings, such as page size, margins, cell size, and the like.
Excel allows you to control whether page breaks are displayed on-screen (as dashed lines) by following these steps:
Figure 1. The advanced options of the Excel Options dialog box.
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (8847) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, and 2013. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Controlling Display of Page Breaks.
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2017-12-04 02:47:59
Dave
@Willy
I like it, thanks! That never occurred to me. I love little tricks like that.
2017-12-01 12:19:21
Willy Vanhaelen
@Dave
You can even make your QAT button toggle between showing and clearing the dotted lines:
Sub NoPageBreaks()
ActiveSheet.DisplayPageBreaks = Not ActiveSheet.DisplayPageBreaks
End Sub
2017-11-30 03:58:31
Dave
I have a shortcut on the QAT which runs a macro to clear the page break dotted lins. One click and they're gone! Here's the code:
Sub NoPageBreaks()
ActiveSheet.DisplayPageBreaks = False
End Sub
2017-05-03 15:29:29
Mark W
Yes, it would be wonderful if this in fact did the trick. Unfortunately like so many settings in Excel 2010 (also primarily the automatic setting under Formulas) it doesn't take long to switch BACK to the original setting! Very frustrating! Sucks! Even when I try to reset settings for all often used Excel docs thinking maybe it's settings of individual .xlsm files for example, but still no luck. I can't, under any circumstances, understand why there's not a way to set these type of settings GLOBALLY and therefore permanently. Wow MS.
2017-03-07 11:39:14
Barbara Andersen
The Breaks tool is grayed out on the Page Layout tab of the ribbon. How do I get this enabled?
2016-03-29 10:49:20
A Croft
A quick macro to hide page breaks for all worksheets in a workbook:
Public Sub WorksheetsHidePageBreaks()
Dim wks As Worksheet
For Each wks In ThisWorkbook.Worksheets
wks.DisplayPageBreaks = False
Next wks
End Sub
Another to do this for all open workbooks:
Public Sub WorkbooksHidePageBreaks()
Dim wkb As Workbook
Dim wks As Worksheet
For Each wkb In Application.Workbooks
For Each wks In wkb.Worksheets
wks.DisplayPageBreaks = False
Next wks
Next wkb
End Sub
2015-06-22 22:12:41
Anna
Any way to make this setting carry with this workbook?
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Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, and 2013. 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: 
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