How to Fix Excel Table Lines Not Showing When Printing
Question details
The user needs to print an Excel worksheet with visible table lines (borders or gridlines) that currently disappear on the printed page despite showing on the monitor.
- Product
- Microsoft Excel
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Printing a worksheet where table borders and gridlines are necessary for data readability.
- Observed behavior
- Table borders or gridlines are fully visible on the screen but fail to appear on the final printed document.
Ensure your printer drivers are up to date and check your printer's ink levels. Use the Print Preview feature (Ctrl+P) to verify if the lines are rendering before sending the job to the printer.
Enable the Print Gridlines Option in Page Setup
Excel has a specific setting to print gridlines that must be enabled if you rely on the default sheet grid instead of manually drawn borders.
By default, Excel gridlines are only visible on your monitor to help you navigate cells, but they do not print. You must manually instruct Excel to include them in the print job.
Open your worksheet and navigate to the 'Page Layout' tab on the top ribbon.
Locate the 'Sheet Options' group. Under the 'Gridlines' section, check the box next to 'Print'.
Press Ctrl+P to open Print Preview and verify that the gridlines now appear on the page preview.
Reapply and Format Table Borders
If you are using custom borders rather than default gridlines, the border formatting might be corrupted or set to a non-printable color (like white).
Repair the Microsoft Office Installation
If print settings and formatting are correct but lines still fail to print, there may be a glitch or corruption in the Office application itself.
Easily Print Tables with Borders and Gridlines using WPS Spreadsheet
WPS Spreadsheet offers a highly compatible and stable printing environment. You can easily enable gridline printing or apply borders without worrying about software glitches that cause lines to disappear.
- 1. Open your file in WPS: Launch WPS Spreadsheet and open the Excel file you want to print.
- 2. Access Page Layout: Navigate to the 'Page Layout' tab on the ribbon.
- 3. Enable Gridlines: In the Gridlines section, check the 'Print' box.
- 4. Print the Document: Click 'Print' or press Ctrl+P to preview and confidently print your table with all lines perfectly visible.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do some cell borders print while others are missing?
This usually happens if the print area cuts off the edge of a cell, or if overlapping cells have conflicting border styles (e.g., a white border overlapping a black one). Check your Print Area in the Page Layout tab and reapply borders uniformly.
Does the print quality setting affect how gridlines are printed?
Yes, if your printer settings are set to 'Draft quality' in the Page Setup menu, Excel may skip printing gridlines and cell borders to save ink and speed up printing. Turn off Draft quality in Page Setup > Sheet.
Can outdated printer drivers cause table lines to disappear?
Absolutely. A miscommunication between the spreadsheet software and an outdated printer driver can result in missing graphical elements like borders. Updating your printer driver from the manufacturer's website can often resolve this.
How can I print gridlines for only a specific part of my worksheet?
Default gridlines apply to the entire active print area. To show lines for only a specific section, disable 'Print Gridlines' in the Page Layout tab, and manually apply 'All Borders' from the Home tab to only the specific cells you want outlined.
