Formatting Issues

How to Show Gridlines and Borders on Colored Excel Cells

John Wilson Oct 23, 2026 869 views

Question details

The user needs to make cell boundaries visible on cells that have a background fill color.

How to Show Gridlines and Borders on Colored Excel Cells

Product: Excel
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Applying a background color to highlight data in a spreadsheet, which unexpectedly hides the default cell boundaries.
Observed behavior: Default gridlines disappear inside cells when a fill color is applied, even if gridlines are enabled in the View and Advanced settings.

Before you start

Select the specific range of colored cells where you want the boundaries to be visible before applying any formatting changes.

Solution 1Recommended

Apply All Borders to the Colored Cells

Since default gridlines are placed behind cell fill colors, manually applying borders is the standard way to restore visible lines around colored cells.

In Excel, gridlines act as a background visual aid. Whenever a cell is filled with a solid color, it covers the background, hiding the gridlines. To resolve this, you must apply explicit cell borders, which are rendered on top of the fill color.

Select the target cells

Click and drag to highlight the colored cells in your worksheet that are missing their gridlines.

Navigate to the Borders menu

Go to the Home tab on the Excel ribbon. Locate the Font group, and click the drop-down arrow next to the Borders icon.

Apply all borders

Select 'All Borders' from the drop-down menu. The cell boundaries will instantly appear over the fill color.

Printing Differences: Keep in mind that while default gridlines do not print unless explicitly enabled in the Page Layout settings, cell borders are standard formatting and will be visible on printed documents.

Effortless Spreadsheet Formatting

Easily Manage Cell Borders and Colors with WPS Spreadsheet

WPS Spreadsheet offers an intuitive interface to format your data, apply cell background colors, and customize borders without losing visibility. It handles complex formatting effortlessly and is fully compatible with Microsoft Excel.

1. Open your file: Launch WPS Spreadsheet and open the workbook containing your colored cells.
2. Select the data: Highlight the cells with the fill color where the background gridlines are hidden.
3. Access the Borders tool: Navigate to the Home tab and click the Borders drop-down icon in the toolbar.
4. Apply borders: Choose 'All Borders' to instantly draw visible boundaries over the colored cells.

Fully compatible with Microsoft Excel (.xlsx, .xls) files and formattingIntuitive ribbon interface for quick access to borders and colorsFree and lightweight alternative for all your daily spreadsheet tasksSeamless application of custom border styles and line colors

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do gridlines disappear when I fill a cell with color?

Excel treats gridlines as a background layer for visual guidance. When you apply a fill color to a cell, that color acts as an opaque layer in the foreground, effectively covering and hiding the background gridlines.

Can I change the color of the applied borders to match default gridlines?

Yes. Before selecting 'All Borders', click the Borders drop-down menu and choose 'Line Color'. Pick a light gray shade that closely mimics the default gridlines, then apply the borders to the selected cells.

Is there a way to force gridlines to show over filled cells globally?

No, Excel does not have a global setting to force default gridlines to render over fill colors. Applying borders to the colored cells is the only supported method to display lines within filled areas.

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