Adding Gridlines to a Table

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 25, 2020)

The table feature in Word is very powerful, and it is great for presenting certain forms of data. Some of the later versions of Word also include auto-formatting features that allow you to quickly format a table, including the addition of grid lines. Unfortunately, if you want to add your grid to only a portion of your table (not all the cells), then you must apply the grid manually. You can add a grid to any portion of your table in the following manner:

Select the cells in the table which you want to be included within your grid.
Choose the Borders and Shading option from the Format menu. You will see the Cell Borders and Shading dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Borders and Shading dialog box.

Make sure the Borders tab is selected (it should be, by default).
Click on Grid in the Preset box (upper-left corner).
Change any individual line styles, as desired.
Click on OK.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (108) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

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