16 February 2018

Viewing Gridlines in a Table in Word

When I create a table in Word I like to see the gridlines (the faint lines that tell you there is a line there, but if you print the document you won't see any lines).  I like this especially for minute taking as I use a minute template with tables.  I prefer creating it this way because I don't want to be fussing with formatting while in a meeting.  The end product will look like it is one area on the document, but really it is many rows of cells.  By doing this it makes it easy to jump from cell to cell. 

Setting the gridlines is done by clicking on the View Gridlines button under the Layout Tab, which is in the Table area (located at the bottom on the ribbon).  See screenshot below:


This is a toggle button so once you set it, it will be on for all your documents, which is what you probably want if you like this feature.  To take it off you just click on it and then it will return to having no gridlines.

I go through this every time I change jobs and start over again with a new computer.  Since this setting is not the default in Word, when you start over on a new computer, it won't be turned on.  I don't change jobs very often so every time I have to change it I am kicking myself for not writing the instructions down as I know it is not intuitive and will take me some time to find the answer.  Also, when you Google it, the answer that usually comes up is for turning on gridlines in your document, which would be used in drafting or in art, not the kind I am looking for. 

See below for screenshot on how to turn on the other gridlines.  It can be found under the View tab in the Show area and you would just tick the Gridlines box to get it to show. 


Of course, the fact that in both cases they are called gridlines is confusing as well.