How to hide gridlines in Excel on Mac: step by step for Microsoft 365

Gridlines are the faint lines that split a worksheet into cells. They help while you type, but they can make a summary, a dashboard, or a screenshot look busy. Hiding them leaves your data, formulas, and borders exactly where they were. Only the background lines go away.

Spreadsheets take up a lot of working hours. In a 2022 survey of 1,000 UK office workers, people spent 38% of their time in a spreadsheet on average. That survey came from a training company and covered UK office workers, not Mac users, so treat the figure as a rough guide. A clean screen helps when you spend that much time in a grid.

Where the gridline setting lives in Excel on Mac

On Excel for Mac, the gridline setting lives on the Page Layout tab. Microsoft's support article says to select the worksheet, click Page Layout, and clear the View check box under Gridlines. Select View again to show the lines.

That article covers Excel for Microsoft 365 for Mac, Excel 2024 for Mac, Excel 2021 for Mac, Excel 2019, and Excel 2016. It does not put its steps under a Mac heading. The Mac part comes from its Applies To list, so the steps below cover those versions.

Microsoft's release notes list Excel 16.114.3 (Build 26102720), dated October 27, 2026, as the newest Excel for Mac build at the time of writing. The release note for that build mentions only quality and performance improvements.

Hide gridlines on one sheet or several sheets

Gridline settings apply to whole worksheets, not to single cells. Every sheet in a workbook keeps its own setting. A clean summary sheet can sit next to a busy data sheet, and each one needs its own check box cleared.

To change several sheets at once, select them first. When more than one sheet is selected, Group appears in the title bar. Then clear View under Gridlines, and the change applies to every selected sheet.

Grouped sheets need care. Changes you make to cells while sheets are grouped can land on every sheet in the group. Click a sheet tab that isn't selected to cancel the group before you edit anything else.

Why gridlines still show, or cells look blank

Filled cells don't show gridlines, even when the setting is on. A cell with a fill color looks solid, and its lines disappear. So if you turn gridlines back on and a block of cells looks empty, check whether those cells have a fill.

A white fill doesn't fix that. It hides the lines too. To clear the fill, select the cells, go to Home > Font, open the Fill Color arrow, and choose No Fill.

• Header rows often carry a fill. Clear it only from those rows if the rest of the sheet should stay plain.
• Conditional formatting can also paint cells. Check Home > Conditional Formatting for rules before you blame the gridline setting.
• Page Break Preview can change how a sheet looks. Switch back with View > Normal.

Printing gridlines in Excel on Mac

Gridlines don't print by default. Hiding them on screen doesn't change the print setting, and printing them doesn't change what you see on screen. These are two separate check boxes on the same Page Layout tab.

To print gridlines, select Page Layout > Sheet Options > Gridlines, then select the Print check box. Clear that box to keep the lines off the page. A common case is a sheet that looks clean on screen but needs lines on paper.

The Excel 2011 for Mac route and Preferences

If you still use Excel 2011 for Mac, the steps differ. A Microsoft Q&A thread from that period gives two routes. One is Excel > Preferences > View, then uncheck Show gridlines. The other is the Layout tab's View section, where you uncheck Gridlines.

That thread is locked, and its answers are old. Don't treat it as current help. Microsoft's current article doesn't mention the Preferences route, though an Exceljet page lists Excel > Preferences > View > Gridlines for Mac. If that option appears on your copy, try it and check the sheet. If the menu differs, follow the Page Layout steps above.

Ask Lazur where the Gridlines box is

If the ribbon on your copy looks different, hold ⌥ ⌘ and ask Lazur where the Gridlines box is. Lazur looks at your screen while you hold the keys. It draws a circle and a label around the check box and answers out loud.

You can also ask Lazur to walk you through the change. It guides you one click at a time and waits for each click. Lazur does not click for you or work inside Excel. You stay in control of every change.

Privacy when you ask about a workbook

Lazur listens and looks at the screen only while you hold the shortcut. Audio and the screenshot go to AI providers so Lazur can answer, and they are not stored. Content is never used to train AI models. If a workbook holds client records, decide first whether you want it on screen while you ask.

Mistakes people make with gridlines on a Mac

The most common mistake is following a Windows guide. Some Windows guides use File > Options > Advanced to hide gridlines or change their color. That path doesn't exist on a Mac, where the settings sit under the Excel menu. Their Ctrl+A select-all step is a Windows shortcut too.

A second mistake is hiding gridlines on one sheet and assuming the rest follow. They don't. Click each tab, or group the sheets first, then confirm the View box on each one.

The third mistake is hunting for a keyboard shortcut. Microsoft's article lists none for this task on either platform. The ribbon route is the reliable one for now.

Shared files and what gets saved

Exceljet says the gridline setting belongs to the active worksheet and is saved with it. Save the workbook after you change it, and the next person who opens that sheet sees the same setting. They can switch the lines back on with their own steps.

Before you send the file, click each tab you changed. Confirm the View box under Gridlines is clear. Then check whether any filled cells need No Fill, and whether the Print box is still on.

Where to go next

Once the sheet looks right, you may want to lock it so nobody edits the layout. See how to protect a sheet with a password in Excel on Mac. For broader help, see the Excel on Mac page. Lazur has a free trial with no credit card. Current plans are on the pricing page.