Gridlines Be Gone!

Data VisualizationExcelTips
Written By Ama Nyame-Mensah
Image of two tile grid maps of the USA. Map 1 (left) has gridlines. Map 2 (right) same map no gridlines.

I was recently asked a great question about copying and pasting Excel cells into PowerPoint.

The problem: those pesky gridlines.

In particular, the person wanted to paste an object with borders into a PowerPoint slide without the gridlines showing.

So, they wanted to go from something like this:

Tile grid map of the USA in an Excel worksheet with grey gridlines showing.

To this:

Tile grid map of the USA in an Excel worksheet without gridlines showing.

I get this question A LOT, so I thought I would share the fix in a quick post.

The remedy: Navigate to the Page Layout tab in your Excel Workbook and deselect the checkmark under the Gridlines header.

Image of Excel Workbook showing the Page Layout tab activated and the checkmark under the Gridlines header is deselected.

Yup, it's that simple.

Now, re-select and copy the cells you want to paste into PowerPoint.

Image of Excel Workbook with a tile grid map of the USA. All cells in the tile grid map are selected and copied to the clipboard.

Open your PowerPoint document, click on the arrow next to the Paste icon, and select  Special…

Image showing paste options in a PowerPoint document.

When the Paste Special window opens, select Microsoft Excel Worksheet Object, and click OK.

And Viola:

Tile grid map of the USA in an Excel worksheet without gridlines showing.

The best part? If you set the Excel cells without color to No Fill, they will appear transparent in your PowerPoint slide.

Image of a tile grid map without gridlines at the edge of a PowerPoint slide.

Have a burning Excel question? We are always here to help. Contact us for a 1:1 consultation.

Ama Nyame-Mensah https://www.anyamemensah.com
Previous

Removing Extra Spaces in a (Text) String
Next

Beyond the Bar: Alternative Methods for Visualizing Two Points of Change