In this article we will show you how to print gridlines in Google Sheets. Choose to print your spreadsheet with or without lines. Just follow the steps below:
For demonstration purposes a sample sheet was created. Click here to access the sheet and follow along at home.
To print gridlines in Google Sheets we must first ensure they are enabled. From the top toolbar click View followed by Show, from the side menu ensure the Gridlines option has a tick next to it.
Once this is ticked the gridlines will appear in the sheet.
Click File from the top toolbar followed by Print from the menu displayed. Alternatively you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + P (Windows) or Cmd ⌘ + P (Mac). This will open the print options screen.
If printing a single sheet or a cell selection ensure you have navigated to the target sheet and/or highlighted the target selection prior to opening the print options screen.
If your aim is to print the current selected sheet or the entire workbook there is no requirement to highlight any data.
The print options screen will now appear. In the right hand side of the screen is the print menu, a print preview can be seen on the left.
Underneath the Print label on the print menu there is a drop down box with the following options:
Current Sheet: Prints only the sheet that is selected when accessing the print options.
Workbook: If you have multiple sheets the option to print the entire workbook will display. Within this option there is a further drop down menu labelled Selection, clicking this will allow you to tick to select specific sheets in the workbook.
By default this will be set to print all sheets in the workbook.
Selected Cells: Prints the cells that were selected earlier (if applicable).
As our example only contains one sheet we only see the options to include the Current sheet or Selected cells. We will choose Current sheet.
Choose a paper size that matches the size of paper you are using to print on. A4 (21.0cm x 29.7cm) is the most common type of paper size and is selected by default.
You can change the paper size by using the drop down menu which offers multiple sizes including the option to set a custom paper size.
We will leave the paper size to the default size of A4 in our example.
Next change use the selection buttons to change the page orientation. The two options are Portrait and Landscape, select the layout most preferable to suit your data and requirements.
In the Scale drop down menu you can set the scale of your content in relation to the page. The options are:
Normal (100%): The content is as originally scaled with no changes
Fit to width: The content is scaled on the width of the page
Fit to height: The content is scaled to the height of the page
Fit to page: The content will be adjusted in size to fit the entirety of the page
Custom: This option allows you to specify the scaling percentage
By default the scale will be set to Normal (100%) which is the option we will choose in our example sheet.
Choose your margin preference from the drop down menu. Google Sheets gives the options to change the margins to normal, narrow, wide or custom numbers.
Google Sheets also offers the ability to add custom page breaks to your prints, this allows you to split your content across multiple pages when printed. To use this function click on SET CUSTOM PAGE BREAKS.
This will display a window. You can now drag the split lines to the desired breakpoint and select CONFIRM BREAKS to complete this task.
Expand the formatting tab in the options menu on the right hand side by clicking the downwards arrow ˅ on the right hand side of the label.
You will now see the option Show grid lines. If the checkbox is left unchecked the grid lines will not be shown in the print preview on the left hand side and therefore will not be included on the printed content.
If the checkbox is ticked you will see the grid lines appear in the print preview on the left hand side and the gridlines will be shown in the print out.
In our example we will choose to show the grid lines so will ensure the checkbox is checked.
In the formatting area of the print options menu you can select the page order by using the drop down menu.
Where the content appears on the printed page can be set using the alignment drop down options. These can set the content both vertically and horizontally.
We will set the alignment to top left in our demonstration as can be seen below.
By expanding the headers and footers section of the print options menu you can choose from the various checkboxes which elements to display which include Page numbers, Workbook title, Sheet name, Current date and Current time.
In our example we have checked several elements as can be seen below.
You can enter your own custom header or footer by clicking the EDIT CUSTOM FIELDS label. This will display a screen to enter custom text. Simply click the area and enter your text. Click the confirm button when finished.
At the top right of the print options menu click the NEXT button, your operating systems print dialogue window will appear. Make sure the correct printer is chosen and click print. Your sheet will be printed.
If you have chosen to show the grid lines they will display on the print out.
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