Remove Page Break Lines in Excel: Steps for Every Sheet

To hide page break lines in Excel for Microsoft 365 on Windows, open File > Options > Advanced, find Display options for this worksheet, and clear Show page breaks. If you are in Page Break Preview, switch to View > Normal. To remove a manual break that affects printing, use Page Layout > Breaks > Reset All Page Breaks. These actions change different things, so first decide whether you want to hide the on-screen guides or change where printed pages divide.

What You’ll Need

A workbook open in the Excel desktop app. The instructions below are for Excel for Microsoft 365 on Windows.
The worksheet that displays the lines. The display setting is tied to a worksheet, so identify which sheet or sheets need attention.
If the lines affect a printout, a moment to check the print preview after changing breaks. Hiding a line does not necessarily change the printed page layout.

You do not need to delete rows, columns, or data to remove page break indicators. It is also useful to know that Excel has automatic page breaks, which it calculates from paper size, margins, scaling, and the printable area, and manual page breaks, which someone has inserted or adjusted. The dashed lines often seen in Normal view are indicators of page boundaries; they are not worksheet borders or cell contents.

Step-by-Step

Open the worksheet showing the lines. Click its sheet tab at the bottom of the workbook. If you are not sure which sheet is responsible, check each relevant tab; the setting for showing page breaks is associated with the selected worksheet. If several worksheets are selected as a group, click one sheet tab on its own before changing settings to avoid unintended grouped-sheet edits.
Check the current view. Select View on the ribbon and look at the workbook views. If Page Break Preview is selected, choose Normal. Page Break Preview is designed to show page boundaries and page numbers, so its blue lines and shaded areas are expected. Switching to Normal is the quickest fix when you only want to leave that print-layout view.
Open Excel’s advanced options. Choose File > Options. In the Excel Options window, select Advanced in the left-hand list. The setting is not in the worksheet’s cell-formatting controls; it is in Excel’s display options.
Find the options for the active worksheet. Scroll to the section named Display options for this worksheet. If the section includes a worksheet selector, confirm that it names the sheet whose lines you want to hide. Excel has other display settings in the same Advanced area, so avoid changing unrelated options such as gridlines, formulas, or row and column headings.
Turn off the page-break indicators. Clear the checkbox labeled Show page breaks. This hides the page-break lines in Normal view for the selected worksheet; it does not delete data or remove the underlying print divisions. If the checkbox is already clear but you still see lines, check the view and the manual breaks using the steps below.
Apply the change. Click OK to close Excel Options, then return to the worksheet. The lines should no longer appear in Normal view. Repeat the display-setting change for any other worksheets where you want the indicators hidden, selecting each sheet in the options section before changing its checkbox.
Remove a manual break if the printed pages also need to change. Return to the worksheet and select a cell immediately below a horizontal manual break, or immediately to the right of a vertical manual break. Choose Page Layout > Breaks > Remove Page Break. The selected cell’s position matters: Excel removes the manual break above or to the left of that cell. Check the print preview afterward to see how the pages now divide.
Reset all manual breaks on the sheet if needed. If there are several unwanted manual breaks, choose Page Layout > Breaks > Reset All Page Breaks. Excel removes the manual breaks on the active worksheet and recalculates automatic breaks using the current print settings. This is broader than removing one break, so use it only if you are comfortable losing all manual page-break adjustments on that sheet.
Confirm the result in the right place. Use Normal view to check whether the on-screen guides are hidden. To check actual printed divisions, open File > Print and review the preview. If the preview still shows several pages, that does not mean the display toggle failed: automatic breaks still determine where the worksheet will print.

On Mac, switch to View > Normal to leave Page Break Preview. To hide indicators, open Excel’s settings or preferences and look under View for the Page breaks option; the wording and whether the menu says Settings or Preferences can vary by Mac Excel release. Clear that option for the relevant worksheet. To change printed divisions, use the Page Layout tab’s Breaks controls if available in your version. Excel for the web has a more limited set of desktop display and print-layout controls; if you cannot find the worksheet-level setting or break commands, choose to open the workbook in the desktop app and make the change there.

Common Mistakes

Confusing hidden guides with removed breaks. Clearing Show page breaks changes what you see in Normal view. It does not make a long worksheet print on one page or erase manual breaks. Use the Breaks commands when the printed pagination needs to change.
Expecting Normal view to remove every indicator. Normal view can still show dashed page-break indicators after a worksheet has been printed or previewed. If that happens, turn off Show page breaks in Advanced options; switching views alone may not hide them.
Removing the wrong manual break. For a horizontal break, select a cell below it; for a vertical break, select a cell to its right. Choosing a cell on the other side of the break may target a different boundary. If uncertain, use Reset All Page Breaks only after considering that it removes all manual adjustments on the active sheet.
Thinking a page break is a cell border. Page-break indicators usually run across a worksheet and mark print-page boundaries. Cell borders are formatting applied to selected cells. If a line remains after hiding page breaks, select the affected cells and inspect Home > Borders rather than repeatedly changing print settings.
Changing a print setting to solve a display-only problem. Adjusting margins, paper size, or scaling can move automatic page boundaries and alter the printout, but it is unnecessary if the goal is only to clear the screen. Start with the display checkbox for a visual-only issue.

Tips

Use the right fix for the job. Choose Normal view to leave Page Break Preview, clear Show page breaks to hide indicators in Normal view, and remove or reset manual breaks to change intentional print divisions. These are separate controls, not three names for the same action.
Keep a useful print layout. If a manual break was added to keep a heading with a table or to start a new section on a fresh page, do not reset all breaks casually. Remove only the specific break that causes trouble, then review the pages that follow it.
Use print preview before sharing. Hiding page-break lines does not control whether rows or columns fit on paper. In File > Print, check the page count, orientation, and scaling. If the output is unexpectedly split, review the print settings rather than assuming the visible guides are the cause.
Distinguish automatic from manual boundaries. Automatic breaks can move when you change paper size, margins, print area, or scaling. Manual breaks remain as intentional boundaries until removed or reset. A reset replaces manual placement with breaks recalculated from the current layout.
Change one worksheet at a time. The Advanced display section identifies the worksheet whose options you are editing. Confirm the selected sheet name before clearing the checkbox, especially in a workbook with many tabs or similarly named sheets.
Use keyboard shortcuts only for navigation you know. On Windows, Alt+W, P opens Page Break Preview through the ribbon sequence, and Alt+W, L returns to Normal view in many Microsoft 365 desktop builds. Ribbon key tips can vary with Excel version and language. Mac shortcut behavior differs, so use the View menu if those sequences do not work.

Troubleshooting

The dashed lines remain after I switched to Normal. Open File > Options > Advanced again and verify that Show page breaks is cleared for the worksheet currently active. If the workbook has multiple tabs, the setting may still be enabled on another sheet. Also confirm that you clicked OK to apply the change.

I cannot find “Show page breaks.” In Excel for Windows, look in the Advanced section called Display options for this worksheet, not the View tab on the ribbon. Scroll down if needed. If you are using Excel for the web, a Mac release with different menu labels, or a managed work installation, the control may be in a different place or unavailable; try the desktop Windows steps or search Excel’s settings for “page breaks.”

The lines are still visible in Page Break Preview. That view intentionally emphasizes page boundaries. Select View > Normal first. If the indicators then remain in Normal view, clear the worksheet’s Show page breaks checkbox as described above. The view change and checkbox address different situations.

The worksheet still prints on multiple pages. Hiding indicators does not affect printing. Open File > Print and inspect the preview. If you want fewer pages, review the paper size, orientation, margins, print area, and scaling options. If a manually inserted line is responsible, remove that break or reset all manual breaks on the sheet, then check the preview again.

A line remains, but it does not look like a page boundary. Check whether it is a cell border, a table outline, or a frozen-pane divider. Page breaks mark print-page boundaries and may cross rows or columns; a border follows cell edges. A frozen-pane divider can be addressed through View > Freeze Panes, while cell borders are controlled from Home > Borders. Identify the type before changing formatting.

The page divisions return after I change the layout. Excel recalculates automatic breaks when print settings or worksheet dimensions change. Those recalculated boundaries can reappear in Page Break Preview or as indicators when display is enabled. Keep Show page breaks cleared if you do not want to see them, and review print preview whenever the print layout changes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does hiding page break lines change the printed worksheet?
No. The Show page breaks option hides indicators in Normal view. Excel still uses automatic and manual page breaks to paginate the printout. Use the Page Layout Breaks commands or adjust print settings to change pagination.

Can I remove only one page break?
Yes. Select a cell immediately below a horizontal manual break or immediately to the right of a vertical manual break, then choose Page Layout > Breaks > Remove Page Break. Review print preview to confirm that the intended division changed.

What does Reset All Page Breaks do?
It removes the manual page breaks on the active worksheet and lets Excel recalculate page divisions from the current print layout. It does not delete worksheet content, and it does not permanently eliminate automatic breaks. Use it when you want to discard manual break adjustments across that sheet.

Why did the lines appear after I printed?
Excel may display page-break indicators in Normal view after print preview or printing. They show where the sheet is divided for printing, not where data ends. Clear Show page breaks for that worksheet if you prefer not to see them.

Can I hide page breaks in every worksheet at once?
The Windows Advanced setting is associated with a selected worksheet. Check the sheet selector in Display options for this worksheet and apply the change to each relevant tab. Do not assume that changing one sheet automatically changes every worksheet in the workbook.

Will these steps delete my data or formatting?
No. Hiding the indicators only changes their display. Removing a manual break changes print pagination, not cell contents or cell formatting. If a line is actually a border, however, changing border formatting can affect how cells look, so confirm what kind of line you are dealing with first.

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

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