When you open a new Excel worksheet, you can clearly see gridlines on your screen. But the moment you try to print that sheet, the print preview usually shows a blank page without gridlines. This can be frustrating, especially if you need a printable sheet for notes, planning, or manual data entry.
The good news? Excel lets you print a completely blank spreadsheet with gridlines—you just need to enable the right setting. This guide explains exactly how to do that on Windows and Mac, with step-by-step instructions and helpful tips.
Why Gridlines Don’t Print by Default
Excel displays gridlines on the screen to help you organize data visually. However, these gridlines are only for on-screen viewing.
When printing, Excel hides them to keep documents clean unless you manually turn on the Print Gridlines option.
How to Print a Blank Excel Spreadsheet With Gridlines
Follow these simple steps:
Step 1: Open a New or Existing Worksheet
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Launch Microsoft Excel.
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Open a new blank workbook or any sheet you want to print.
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Leave all cells empty if you want a completely blank sheet.
Step 2: Go to the “Page Layout” Tab
At the top ribbon:
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Click Page Layout.
This section controls how your sheet appears when printed.
Step 3: Turn On “Print” Under Gridlines
Inside the Sheet Options group, you will see two checkboxes:
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View
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Print
Do this:
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Find the Gridlines section.
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Check the box next to Print.
This tells Excel to include gridlines when printing your sheet.
Step 4: Adjust Page Settings (Optional but Recommended)
A. Choose Page Orientation
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Go to Orientation
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Select Portrait (default) or Landscape
Landscape is better for wider printable grids.
B. Set the Scaling
In the same Page Layout tab:
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Click Scale to Fit
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Adjust the Width or Height to 1 page if you want the entire grid on one sheet.
C. Adjust Margins
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Click Margins
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Select Narrow or Custom Margins to fit more cells per page.
Step 5: Preview Your Sheet Before Printing
Before printing, check what your blank sheet will look like:
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Go to File > Print
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Look at the Print Preview window
You should now see all Excel gridlines displayed clearly on the page.
Step 6: Print the Blank Grid
Once everything looks good:
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Click Print
You’ll get a clean, blank sheet of gridlines—perfect for writing, designing layouts, or planning.
How to Customize the Printed Gridlines
You can go beyond basic printing and customize your grid layout:
1. Change Column Width and Row Height
Before printing, adjust the cell sizes for better spacing:
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Drag column borders to widen or shrink cells
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Right-click → Row Height or Column Width to set exact values
This lets you create:
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Planner templates
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Sign-in sheets
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Graph paper
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Task charts
2. Add Bold Borders for Stronger Lines
If you want darker lines:
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Select the full sheet (Ctrl + A)
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Go to Home > Borders
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Choose All Borders
This gives you dark, print-ready lines that are stronger than default gridlines.
3. Use Page Break Preview
This helps you see exactly what prints on each sheet:
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Go to View > Page Break Preview
You can drag blue lines to adjust printable areas.
How to Print Gridlines on Excel for Mac
If you’re using Excel on macOS:
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Open your spreadsheet
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Click the Page Layout tab
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Under Gridlines, check Print
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Go to File > Print
That’s it — the steps are almost identical to Windows.
Common Problems & Fixes
Gridlines Still Not Showing?
Make sure:
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The cells have no fill color (fill colors hide gridlines)
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You checked Page Layout > Gridlines > Print
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Borders aren’t overriding gridlines
Print Preview Looks Blank?
Zoom out and confirm you’re viewing the right page.
Also verify the print area (Page Layout > Print Area).
Why Print a Blank Excel Grid?
Many users print blank spreadsheets for practical reasons, such as:
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Budget planning
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Checklist creation
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Handwritten schedules
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Graph paper for math
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Hand-entered logs
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Classroom worksheets
Excel gives much more flexibility than pre-made printable graph paper.
Final Thoughts
Printing a blank Excel spreadsheet with gridlines is easy once you know where the gridline settings are. With just a few clicks under the Page Layout tab, you can quickly produce clean, structured grid pages for any purpose—from planning and sketching to classroom work.
