How to Bolden Lines in Microsoft Excel

A way to emphasize certain cells and more

If you want to learn how to bolden lines in Excel, we’ll show you how to add bold border lines, darken the gridlines, and increase the weight of a drawn line.

Make Borders Bold in Excel

When you add borders in Excel, you can change the border style to a thicker weight which allows you to bold the lines easily. You can also change the color and place the borders outside, inside, or on certain edges of a cell.

You’ll then see a bold border for your selected cells.

Make Gridlines Darker in Excel

Maybe it’s thegridlines in Excelthat you want bolder and easier to see. While you can’t choose a different line weight for the gridlines, you can make them black rather than the default gray color which makes them appear bold. This is especially useful if you plan to print your Excel spreadsheet.

First, make sure that you can see the gridlines. Go to thePage Layouttab and check the box forViewbelowGridlines. You can also check the box forPrintif you want to display the gridlines when you print the sheet.

To change the color of the gridlines, do one of the following to open the settings on Windows or Mac.

Make a Drawn Line Bold in Excel

If youdraw a linein Excel using the Shapes feature, maybe that’s the line you want to bolden. You can do this in just a few steps.

Whether a cell border, worksheet gridlines, or a drawn line, you can bolden otherwise thin lines in an Excel sheet in just minutes.

For more, look at our tutorial for how toget rid of dotted lines in Microsoft Excel.

Sandy Writtenhouse is a freelance technology writer and former Project, Department, and Program Manager. She turned her education, job experience, and love of technology into a full-time writing career. With all sorts of gadgets in her home and her hands, she seeks to help others make life easier through technology.Read Sandy’s Full Bio

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