A spreadsheet’s gridlines, which give the data a visual form, are one of its most important components. To make a spreadsheet look smoother and more polished, it is occasionally recommended to hide these gridlines.
In this simple tutorial, we will show you how to hide gridlines in Google Sheets so you can change the way your spreadsheets look.
What are the Gridlines in Google Sheets?
In Google Sheets, “gridlines” refers to the horizontal and vertical lines that combine to form a grid-like layout. These lines act as a visual help, dividing cells and offering a straightforward framework for compiling and analyzing data. Google Sheets displays gridlines by default to make it easier for users to see and work with individual cells. They serve as guides, making it easier for users to distinguish between various rows and columns visually, which speeds up data entering and analysis.
When sharing spreadsheets with colleagues or when composing reports and presentations, hiding gridlines can assist give the document a more polished appearance. Gridlines can be specifically hidden to bring attention to the data itself and enhance its visual appeal and clarity.
The Google Sheet with the gridlines looks:
What are the Benefits of Hiding Gridlines in Google Sheets?
The benefits of hiding the gridlines in Google Sheets are majorly it makes the sheets look neat and clean. Many other important benefits of Google Sheets are:
- Enhanced Readability: Gridlines can be hidden to reduce visual noise and enhance the readability of the data.
- Improved Aesthetics: Gridlines can be hidden to give your spreadsheet a more appealing appearance.
- Increased Flexibility in Design: One has more creative freedom to create and design their spreadsheet when gridlines are hidden.
- Elimination of Distractions: Gridlines can be hidden to assist decrease visual clutter and let people concentrate just on the important data and analysis.
- Enhanced Data Visualization: If the spreadsheet contains charts, graphs, or conditional formatting, hiding gridlines might be especially useful.
How to Hide Gridlines in Google Sheets?
To hide gridlines in Google Sheets, we can use two different methods which are:
All these methods are demonstrated with the examples.
Method 1: Using the View Menu
The first method to hide the gridlines is by using the “View” option of the menu bar. Follow the steps below to use this method for hiding the gridlines.
Step 1: Open the Spreadsheet
First, open the spreadsheet whose guidelines are supposed to hide:
Step 2: Access the “Show” Option
The next step is to click on “View” in the menu bar and then choose “Show” in the dropdown menu:
Step 3: Unselect the Gridlines
Finally, uncheck the “Gridlines” option in the dropdown menu that opens after clicking the “Show” option:
The guidelines are removed successfully:
Method 2: Hiding Gridlines while Printing
Another method to hide the gridlines is during printing. For example, when you click the “Print” from the “File” menu to print the sheet:
The overview of the printable sheet will be displayed, now uncheck the “Show grid lines” from the “Formatting” section:
The gridlines will be removed from the printable sheet:
These are the two best approaches to hiding the gridlines in Google Sheets.
Conclusion
To hide the gridlines in Google Sheets, either use the “View” option in the menu bar or while printing uncheck the “Show grid lines” option. Both of the mentioned methods are explained with the demonstration of the simple examples in this post.
