Cell borders in Google Sheets are easy to add and just as easy to remove, once you find the right button. Whether you pasted in a table full of lines, inherited a sheet with messy borders, or want a clean look, you can clear borders from a few cells or the whole sheet in seconds. This guide also covers the gray gridlines, which are a different setting that people often mistake for borders.
Quick Answer
Select the cells, click the Borders button in the toolbar (a square divided into four), and choose Clear borders (the square with dotted lines). To remove borders from the whole sheet, press Ctrl + A first (Command + A on Mac).
Remove Borders From Selected Cells
- Select the cells with borders. Click and drag, or click a column letter or row number to select a whole column or row.
- Click the Borders button in the toolbar. If the toolbar is narrow, it may be under the three dots (More) at the right end.
- Click Clear borders (the icon showing a square with faint dotted lines).
Only the borders are removed; values, colors, and number formats stay the same.
Remove Borders From the Entire Sheet
- Click any cell and press Ctrl + A (Command + A on Mac), or click the blank box above row 1 and left of column A.
- Click Borders > Clear borders.
Remove Only Some Border Lines
Google Sheets doesn’t have an “erase one side” button, but you can clear and re-add what you want:
- Select the cells and choose Clear borders.
- With the same cells selected, open Borders again and choose the borders to keep, such as Outer borders or Bottom border. Use Border color and Border style at the right of the menu to match the look.
Note that a border between two cells belongs to both. If a line remains after clearing, it may be a border on the neighboring cell. Include the adjacent cells in your selection and clear again.
Clear All Formatting at Once
To remove borders and other formatting (fonts, colors, number formats), select the cells and press Ctrl + \ (Command + \ on Mac), or choose Format > Clear formatting. Values and formulas stay, but everything returns to the default style.
Hide Gridlines (the Gray Lines)
The light gray lines between all cells are gridlines, not borders. Clear borders won’t remove them.
- Hide on screen: Go to View > Show > Gridlines and uncheck it.
- Hide when printing: In File > Print, open Formatting and uncheck Show gridlines.
Other Lines That Look Like Borders
- Tables: If the data is a Google Sheets table (it has a table name and colored header), its style controls lines and colors. Change the table’s color options, or use Revert to unformatted data from the table menu.
- Alternating colors: Go to Format > Alternating colors > Remove alternating colors.
- Conditional formatting: Rules can add color fills. Check Format > Conditional formatting.
On Your Phone
- In the Google Sheets app, select the cells.
- Tap the Format button (the A with lines) and open the Cell tab.
- Tap Borders and choose the no border option.
Summary
- Select the cells (or press Ctrl + A for all).
- Click Borders > Clear borders.
- Use Ctrl + \ to clear all formatting.
- Hide gray gridlines with View > Show > Gridlines.
Kermit Matthews is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with more than a decade of experience writing technology guides. He has a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Computer Science and has spent much of his professional career in IT management.
He specializes in writing content about iPhones, Android devices, Microsoft Office, and many other popular applications and devices.