Excel Page Break Dotted Lines: How to Show Them Again

To show page-break dotted lines in Excel for Microsoft 365 on Windows, choose File > Options > Advanced, select the worksheet under Display options for this worksheet, and check Show page breaks. Also make sure the sheet is in Normal view; the setting controls whether Excel displays the guides, not whether the worksheet prints on multiple pages.

What the dotted lines mean

Page-break lines mark where Excel expects one printed page to end and the next to begin. In Normal view, automatic page breaks commonly appear as dotted lines. They are calculated from the worksheet’s content, paper size, orientation, margins, scaling, and printer settings. A line is therefore a guide to the current print layout, not a border in your data.

Excel also supports manual page breaks, which a user adds to control where a page ends. In Page Break Preview, Excel makes the page divisions easier to inspect and distinguish; manual breaks are shown differently from automatic ones. The lines do not print as dotted marks, and hiding them does not remove a break or change the printed pages. To see what will actually print, use Print Preview.

Turn page-break lines on in Excel for Windows

Use this setting when the lines are missing in a worksheet that you want to inspect in Normal view:

Open the worksheet where the page breaks should appear.
Select File > Options.
In Excel Options, choose Advanced.
Scroll to Display options for this worksheet.
If the worksheet selector lists another sheet, choose the sheet you are working on.
Check Show page breaks, then select OK.

Return to the worksheet and confirm that View > Normal is selected. The display option applies to the selected worksheet, so check it separately if the lines are missing on other sheets. If the checkbox is already selected, the view or the print-layout conditions may be the reason the lines are not visible; see the checks below.

Check the worksheet view and print setup

Excel has several worksheet views, and they emphasize different things. Normal is the usual cell-editing view where page breaks may appear as dotted guides. Page Break Preview shows page divisions more prominently and lets you adjust them. Page Layout view displays the sheet in a page-oriented layout. To choose Normal, use View > Normal on the ribbon. If you are in Page Break Preview, select Normal before expecting the familiar dotted guides.

Excel may not show page-break marks on a sheet until it has enough information to calculate a printable layout. If you have not checked the print layout, open File > Print to inspect the preview, then return to the worksheet. You can also use Ctrl+P on Windows. On a Mac, use Command+P. Printing is not required just to see the preview, and you can cancel or leave the print screen without sending anything to a printer.

When looking at the preview, check that the selected printer and paper size are appropriate. A different printer or paper size can change where Excel places automatic page breaks.

Automatic breaks and manual breaks

Automatic breaks are Excel’s response to the current page setup. For example, a wide table might fit on one page vertically but extend across two pages horizontally. Excel places breaks according to the available printable area; changing a column width, margin, orientation, or scaling option can move them. If you add rows or columns, the calculated boundaries can shift as well.

Manual breaks are deliberate instructions. To add one, select the row below where a horizontal break should go, or the column to the right of where a vertical break should go, then choose Page Layout > Breaks > Insert Page Break. The chosen position and the resulting page divisions are easiest to review in Page Break Preview. If an existing manual break is causing an awkward split, moving or removing it is different from simply hiding the dotted display.

For example, a report may have a heading at the bottom of one printed page and its data on the next. A manual break can move that section to a new page. But if you later switch from portrait to landscape, Excel recalculates automatic breaks, and the old manual layout may no longer produce the result you wanted.

Hide the lines without changing the printout

If the guides are distracting while you edit, turn off Show page breaks using the same File > Options > Advanced path. Make sure the correct worksheet is selected in Display options for this worksheet, clear the checkbox, and select OK. This changes the on-screen display only. It does not remove manual breaks, clear a print area, or make the sheet print as a single page.

This distinction matters because a common misconception is that dotted lines mean Excel will print visible dotted borders. They are not cell formatting. Likewise, hiding them does not solve a layout problem: a large worksheet may still span several pages. Use File > Print to verify page count and appearance, or adjust the print settings if the output needs to fit differently.

When the lines do not match the printed pages

Page-break guides are based on the current setup, while the final print can depend on the printer and its available paper settings. If the preview looks unexpected, review these settings before adding manual breaks:

Print area: Check whether a limited range is selected under Page Layout > Print Area. Choose Page Layout > Print Area > Clear Print Area if you want Excel to consider the full used range instead.
Orientation and paper size: On the Page Layout tab, review Orientation and Size. A wide table may need landscape orientation or a different paper size.
Margins: Page Layout > Margins changes the space available for printed content. Narrower margins can sometimes fit more columns or rows on a page.
Scaling: In Page Layout, review the Scale to Fit controls, including Width and Height. Setting a sheet to fit on one page can make text very small, so check readability in the preview.
Printer selection: In File > Print, confirm the chosen printer and its paper settings. Changing printers can alter automatic breaks.

For a reliable comparison, inspect the same worksheet in Print Preview after changing one setting at a time. This helps identify whether an unexpected break comes from the print area, scaling, or page setup rather than from the display checkbox.

Reset or remove manual page breaks

If you want Excel to calculate breaks again instead of following manual adjustments, select the affected worksheet and choose Page Layout > Breaks > Reset All Page Breaks. This removes the manual page-break choices for that sheet and restores automatically calculated breaks. It is different from turning off Show page breaks: resetting changes the layout instructions, while hiding the lines changes only what you see on screen.

To remove a particular manual break, use Page Break Preview to identify it, select the row below a horizontal break or the column to the right of a vertical break, and choose Page Layout > Breaks > Remove Page Break. If the command is unavailable or the result is unclear, check that you are working on the intended sheet and that you selected the row or column adjacent to the break. Review the preview afterward, because Excel may still place an automatic break near the old position.

Excel on Mac and Excel for the web

In Excel for Mac, page-break display options are in Excel > Settings (called Preferences in some older releases) > View. Look for the Page breaks option under the window or worksheet display options, and check the relevant sheet and view. Names and arrangement can vary slightly by Mac release. Page Break Preview is available from the View tab, and Command+P opens the print dialog or preview flow.

Excel for the web does not use the Windows File > Options > Advanced dialog, so those Windows instructions do not apply there. If the web interface does not provide the page-break display control you need, open the workbook in the desktop Excel app to adjust the view or page-break settings. In either version, use the print preview available in that app to check output rather than treating on-screen dotted guides as printed marks.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did Excel stop showing page-break lines?
Show page breaks may be unchecked for that worksheet, or the sheet may not be in Normal view. Check File > Options > Advanced on Windows, select the correct worksheet in the display-options section, and confirm View > Normal.

Do dotted page-break lines print on paper?
No. They are on-screen guides, not cell borders or printed marks. Check File > Print to see the page layout that will be sent to the printer.

How do I remove a dotted page break?
If it is an automatic break, change the page setup or scaling that determines the layout. If it is a manual break, use Page Layout > Breaks > Remove Page Break, or choose Reset All Page Breaks to remove manual breaks from the sheet.

Why are my page breaks in different places after changing printers?
Printers can have different printable areas and paper defaults, which can affect Excel’s automatic page calculations. Select the intended printer and paper size in File > Print, then review the preview again.

Does hiding page breaks make my worksheet print on one page?
No. It only hides the guides in the worksheet view. To control printed page count, adjust the print area, orientation, margins, or scaling and verify the result in Print Preview.

Try it: the Date Difference Calculator: days, months, years and weekdays between two dates, with the DATEDIF formulas.

More in How-to basics

Sources: Function behaviour and menu paths: Microsoft Support documentation for Excel. Method & sources

Spotted an error in this guide? Let us know.