How to Hide Gridlines in Google Docs Spreadsheets
Google Docs now allows you to hide gridlines in your Google Spreadsheets. Here is how to do it and what you can expect.
Good news, everyone! By popular demand, Google Docs now allows you to hide gridlines in your Google Spreadsheets. It might seem like a small, stylistic tweak, but it is one that many of us have been demanding for quite a while. This week the Google Docs blog announced the new feature, and it is available immediately for everyone (though I did notice that it was not available for some of my Google Apps accounts). The best part is how easy it is actually to hide the gridlines. Just click View and Select Hide Gridlines. This affects the whole spreadsheet. Check out the screenshots below to see it before and after.
Hiding Gridlines in Google Docs
This is how Google Spreadsheets normally look, gridlines and all.
Click View and select Hide Gridlines…
The gridlines disappear. Notice in the section below, however, that there are still lines. It might look like a blank box with a border, but that is only because these are cell borders that I added manually.
You can choose cell borders for one or more cells at a time by clicking the Borders button in the top-hand toolbar. These borders stick around even if you hide the gridlines.
I find the effect very pleasing. I’m sure you will, too.
Printing Google Spreadsheets without Gridlines
Note that if you want to print your Google Spreadsheet, the gridlines will come back, regardless if you’ve hidden them in the View menu.
No worries. You can still get rid of them for printing by checking No gridlines in the Print Settings dialog just before clicking Print.
Now, the printed version will be sans gridlines.
Conclusion
It’s straightforward to get rid of gridlines in Google Docs spreadsheets now! I have to say that I’m pretty happy about this; while I may still have to deal with Stink Bugs living out on the East coast, at least I won’t have to live with gridlines, no matter where I’m using Google Docs.
4 Comments
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Rod Tompkins
Wow, this is really simple fix, but really helpful. I would have poked around quite awhile before finding this. My issue was not with printing, however, but with gridlines showing on Google spreadsheets published as embedded html or pdf on my website. Your fix worked for this with one issue: The spreadsheet still displayed with one gridline down the left side of the A column. I fixed this by inserting a blank column in my spreadsheet to the left of my first column and then changing my published range (from A1:C47 to B1:D47) and it now shows the spreadsheet without any gridlines.
Thanks again for your very-well written and illustrated tutorial!
Rod
Rod Tompkins
BTW, my fix works for embedded html (iframes), but the PDF still shows gridlines. I’ll have to work on that one some more.
Taylor Silenzio
Thank you! I was missing the ability to hide them when printing. Also stinkbugs do stick when you crush them, try it..
Noobz
Great thank.