How to remove print lines in excel

Answer

Print lines are the dashed or solid page break boundaries that appear after you switch to Print Preview or use Page Break Preview.

How to remove print lines in Excel

To remove print lines in Excel, follow these steps based on the view mode and platform.

1. Remove normal page break lines

Excel displays page break lines after printing or previewing. To remove them:

Windows

1. Select File.

2. Select Options.

3. Select Advanced.

4. Scroll to the Display options for this worksheet section.

5. Uncheck Show page breaks.

6. Select OK.

Mac

1. Select Excel in the menu bar.

2. Select Preferences.

3. Select View.

4. Uncheck Show page breaks.

2. Exit Page Break Preview

Page Break Preview forces thick blue lines to appear. The lines go away when you leave this mode.

Windows and Mac

1. Go to the View tab.

2. Select Normal.

3. Reset manually inserted page breaks

Manual page breaks create solid lines that persist.

Windows and Mac

1. Go to the Page Layout tab.

2. Select Breaks.

3. Select Reset All Page Breaks.

4. Remove gridlines mistaken for print lines

Gridlines are not print lines. Some users confuse them. To hide gridlines:

Windows and Mac

1. Go to the View tab.

2. Uncheck Gridlines.

5. Remove print area borders

Print area outlines behave like print lines.

Windows and Mac

1. Go to the Page Layout tab.

2. Select Print Area.

3. Select Clear Print Area.

Why do print lines appear?

Print lines appear when Excel recalculates how pages break during printing or previewing. Excel uses page margins, scaling, and paper size to set these boundaries.

How to prevent print lines from reappearing

1. Avoid switching to Page Break Preview.

2. Keep Show page breaks disabled.

3. Avoid inserting manual page breaks.

4. Use consistent margin settings.

How to check the active print view

Excel switches views automatically based on user actions.

1. Use View > Workbook Views to confirm you are in Normal view.

2. Confirm Show page breaks is unchecked in the worksheet’s display settings.

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