Apply or remove cell borders

Excel 2016 2013 2010 2007 2003
Another way to highlight data in Excel, along with the use of colors, is to use borders. Borders and lines within borders are often used to group a range of similar cells or to delimit rows or columns. Excel offers 13 predefined border styles and tools to create your styles.

Apply cell borders

To apply cell borders:

  • Using the mouse: do one of the following:
    • On the Home tab, in the Font group, click the arrow next to Borders:
      Font group in Excel 365

      Then choose a border style from the palette:

      Border style list in Excel 365
      • Under Borders, choose any of the predefined 13 styles,
      • Under Draw Borders, use tools to create a custom style:

        Click Draw Border or Draw Border Grid to create borders by dragging the mouse. When selecting any of these options, your cursor changes to the pencil Pencil in Excel 365.

        Draw Border allows to draw a single border, multiple borders, or a border around the selected area:

        Draw Border example in Excel 365

        Draw Border Grid allows to draw a single border, multiple borders, or the borders of all cells in the selected area:

        Draw Border Grid example in Excel 365

        To stop drawing borders, click Draw Border or Draw Border Grid on the Borders toolbar again or press Esc to discard the drawing tool.

      • Click Line Color Line Color in Excel 365 and then click the color that you want to use.
      • Click the arrow next to Line Style Line Style in Excel 365 and choose the style you want to use:
        Line Style list in Excel 365

      If you want to use another borders style, choose the More Borders... button to open the Format Cells dialog box.

    • Choose Format Cells... from the popup menu to open the Format Cells dialog box:
      Cell popup in Excel 365

    In the Format Cells dialog box:

    Format Cells in Excel 365

    Click the line style and color you want, then click one or more buttons to indicate the border placement.

  • Using the keyboard: use the next shortcut keys:

    Alt+P   Apply or remove the top border

    Alt+B   Apply or remove the bottom border

    Alt+L   Apply or remove the left border

    Alt+R   Apply or remove the right border

    Alt+H   If cells in multiple rows are selected, apply or remove the horizontal divider

    Alt+V   If cells in multiple columns are selected, apply or remove the vertical divider

    Alt+D   Apply or remove the downward diagonal border

    Alt+U   Apply or remove the upward diagonal border

Remove cell borders

To remove cell borders:

  • Using the mouse: do one of the following:
    • On the Home tab, in the Font group, click the arrow next to Borders and choose Erase Border Erase Border in Excel 365, and then do one of the following:
      • To remove a single border, click that border with the eraser tool
      • To remove more than one border, drag the eraser tool across the borders that you want to remove.

      To stop erasing borders, click Erase Border on the Borders toolbar again to discard the eraser tool.

    • Choose Format Cells... from the popup menu to open the Format Cells dialog box. Click one or more buttons to unselect the border placement.
  • Using the keyboard: use the next shortcut keys:

      Ctrl+Shift+_    Border lines off,

      Ctrl+Shift+&    Border lines on.

See also this tip in French: Appliquer ou supprimer des bordures de cellules.

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