Let’s take a look. Near the bottom of the border menu on the home tab of the ribbon is a group of commands for drawing borders. Excel has two basic modes for drawing borders: Draw Border and Draw Border Grid, and another mode for erasing borders called Erase Border. To draw a border, first select a color and a line style. Notice that when we select either of these options, Excel shifts into draw border mode; the Draw Border menu item is selected, and the cursor changes into a pencil. In draw border mode, you can draw a border along any gridline. We can use this flexibility to draw an irregular border. While this could be done in multiple steps, using the Format Cells dialog box, it would be tedious. With Draw Border enabled, you can also click and drag to create a rectangular border around any block of cells. Now let’s look at the second border drawing mode, Draw Border Grid. In this mode, Excel will create both outside and inside borders at the same time. When following a gridline, Draw Border Grid works like Draw Border, adding a single line. However, when you click and drag across cells, Draw Border Grid creates borders around all cells that are part of the selection. To stop drawing borders, just click the Border button on the ribbon. This disables the current drawing mode. This button remembers the last drawing mode used. When you click it again, that mode will be re-enabled. Now let’s look at how to erase borders. First, select Erase Border. With this option selected, it’s possible to remove borders one at a time by clicking each border individually. It’s also possible to click and drag over cells to remove their borders.
Dave Bruns
Hi - I’m Dave Bruns, and I run Exceljet with my wife, Lisa. Our goal is to help you work faster in Excel. We create short videos, and clear examples of formulas, functions, pivot tables, conditional formatting, and charts.
