How to Hide Page Break Lines in Excel on a Worksheet

To hide page break lines in Excel for Microsoft 365 on Windows, switch to View > Normal, then choose File > Options > Advanced. Under Display options for this worksheet, select the correct sheet, clear Show page breaks, and click OK. This removes the page-break indicators from the worksheet view; it does not change how the sheet is divided when printed.

Excel uses page break lines to show where printed pages end. They can be useful when adjusting a printout, but distracting when you are editing cells. The setting is separate from cell borders and gridlines, so hiding page breaks will not erase formatting or change your data.

What You’ll Need

Excel for Microsoft 365 on Windows, or a recent desktop version of Excel.
The workbook with the worksheet whose page break lines you want to hide. If the workbook has several sheets, you may need to repeat the setting for each one.
Permission to edit the workbook’s display settings. You do not need to change the print area, margins, scaling, or page breaks themselves.

Step-by-Step

Select the worksheet. Click the sheet tab at the bottom of the Excel window. The page-break display option applies to an individual worksheet, so make sure you have selected the sheet showing the lines. If you are unsure which sheet is active, check that its tab is highlighted before continuing.
Switch to Normal view if needed. On the ribbon, choose View > Normal. If Excel is in Page Break Preview, the blue lines and shaded areas are part of that view, and changing the worksheet display option is not a substitute for leaving it. Normal view is the usual cell-editing view. You can also use the view buttons near the bottom-right of the Excel window and select Normal.
Open Excel Options. Choose File > Options. In the Excel Options window, select Advanced in the left-hand list. This is a workbook display preference, not a command under the Page Layout tab, so changing margins or print scaling is unnecessary.
Find the display options for the active worksheet. Scroll down through the Advanced settings to the section titled Display options for this worksheet. Use the dropdown in that section to pick the worksheet you want to adjust. Confirm the sheet name rather than assuming the first sheet in the list is the one currently open.
Turn off the page break indicators. Clear the checkbox labeled Show page breaks. If the box is already clear, verify the worksheet selected in the dropdown; the lines may belong to a different sheet. Do not clear Show gridlines unless you also want to hide the faint cell guides across the sheet.
Apply the setting. Click OK to close Excel Options. The dotted or solid page-break indicators should disappear from that worksheet in Normal view. You can continue editing and saving the workbook as usual; the setting does not remove data, formulas, borders, or print pagination.
Repeat for other worksheets as needed. Click another sheet tab and follow the same steps, selecting that sheet in the Advanced settings dropdown. The checkbox is worksheet-specific, so hiding the lines on one tab does not necessarily hide them on every tab in the workbook.

On Excel for Mac, first choose View > Normal if the sheet is in Page Break Preview. Then open Excel > Preferences (called Excel > Settings in some releases), choose View, and clear Page breaks under the window display options if that control is available. The exact label and placement can vary by Mac release. Excel for the web does not provide the same full desktop Options panel; switch to Normal view if available, or open the workbook in the desktop app to change the page-break display preference.

Common Mistakes

Changing the print layout instead of hiding the indicators. Removing or moving a page break changes how content is divided for printing. To keep the current print layout and simply clear the lines from view, leave manual breaks, margins, and scaling alone and turn off Show page breaks.
Confusing page breaks with gridlines. Gridlines form a regular network between cells; page breaks mark the edges of printed pages and may appear as dashed or solid lines. Clearing Show gridlines hides the cell guides, not the page-break display. If both are visible, check the two settings separately.
Forgetting to choose the right sheet in Options. The Advanced section includes a worksheet dropdown. If you turn off the checkbox for Sheet1 but the lines are on Sheet2, nothing appears to change. Reopen the setting and verify the selected tab name.
Expecting Normal view alone to remove every dotted line. Changing from Page Break Preview hides that special view, but Excel can still show page-break indicators in Normal view after printing or opening print preview. Clear Show page breaks as well if the lines remain.
Assuming hiding the lines alters printing. This is a display preference. It does not make a wide worksheet fit on one page, remove a printed page, or delete a manual page break. Use Print Preview to review the output if you need to change the printed result.

Tips

Check the view before changing anything else. In Page Break Preview, Excel emphasizes page boundaries and may gray out cells outside the print area. Returning to Normal is often the quickest fix when the whole sheet looks unusual. Use the checkbox method if lines still appear afterward.
Keep a clear distinction between display and print controls. The Page Layout tab contains controls for print layout, while the Show page breaks checkbox controls whether indicators appear in the worksheet. Use the latter when your only goal is a cleaner editing view.
Review each worksheet individually. If a workbook contains many tabs, make a short list of the sheets where you can see the lines, then adjust those sheets one by one. This is more reliable than changing settings on a single tab and expecting the entire workbook to follow.
Leave the feature on when it helps your work. Page break indicators can be useful for checking where a report will split across printed pages. You can turn them off while editing and enable them again when reviewing a print layout.
Use Print Preview to answer a different question. If you want to know whether the printed document fits, choose File > Print and inspect the preview. Hiding page-break lines only cleans up the worksheet window; it does not guarantee a particular number of printed pages.

Troubleshooting

The lines are still visible after clearing the checkbox. Return to File > Options > Advanced and check the worksheet name in Display options for this worksheet. Then confirm Show page breaks is cleared for that specific sheet and click OK. If you were in Page Break Preview, switch to View > Normal too. Make sure the lines are not ordinary cell borders: borders follow the cells where they were applied and can be changed from the Home tab’s border controls.

The page looks gray or the blue boundaries are prominent. You are probably in Page Break Preview. Choose View > Normal or click the Normal view button near the bottom-right of the window. Gray areas in Page Break Preview indicate content outside the current print area; they are not deleted cells. Check Page Layout > Print Area only if the print area itself needs changing.

The option seems to have no effect in Excel for the web. The browser version has fewer desktop display settings. Use its view controls to return to Normal view, if the current view is different. If the page-break indicators persist and you need the specific worksheet checkbox, choose the option to open the workbook in the desktop app, then follow the Windows or Mac instructions above.

The setting changes on one tab but not another. That is expected when the sheets have separate display preferences. Repeat the steps for every affected worksheet, and verify each sheet in the Advanced dropdown. If the workbook is shared or read-only, you may also need edit access before Excel lets you save preference changes.

The lines return later. Recheck the display setting for the affected worksheet. If a workbook is reopened on another computer or in another Excel version, its display may differ because view preferences can depend on the application and worksheet. Reapply the checkbox setting in the desktop version if needed; do not remove page breaks just to suppress their on-screen markers.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does hiding page break lines change the printed worksheet?
No. It hides the indicators in the worksheet window but leaves the print layout, manual page breaks, margins, and scaling unchanged. Use File > Print to review or adjust what will print.

Why did dotted lines appear after I printed or opened Print Preview?
Excel can show page-break indicators in Normal view after you have used print-related views. Clear Show page breaks for the relevant worksheet in File > Options > Advanced to hide them.

Can I hide page break lines for the whole workbook at once?
The Windows checkbox is set for a selected worksheet. You may need to repeat the change for each tab where the lines appear. Selecting multiple sheet tabs can group sheets for some editing tasks, but use the worksheet dropdown and check each sheet rather than assuming this display preference has been applied everywhere.

Will other people see the lines disappear too?
Do not assume that changing the display setting will give every person or Excel version the same on-screen view. A collaborator can have different view preferences or open the workbook in Excel for the web. If the printed pagination matters, share a PDF or confirm the intended layout separately.

How do I show the page break lines again?
In Windows, return to File > Options > Advanced, select the worksheet, check Show page breaks, and click OK. You can also use View > Page Break Preview when you want to inspect or adjust page boundaries.

Are page break lines the same as borders?
No. Page breaks indicate where printed pages divide; borders are cell formatting that may appear on screen and on paper. Turning off page breaks will not remove borders, and removing a border will not change pagination.

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

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