Excel gridlines, the faint gray lines that separate cells on screen, do not print by default. When you export an Excel sheet to PDF, the data prints but the grid does not. A spreadsheet without gridlines is harder to read because the visual structure that separates one cell from the next is missing. Numbers float in white space without the borders that define their relationships.
Gridlines are the difference between a spreadsheet that looks like a table and one that looks like scattered numbers.
Printing an Excel to PDF file with gridlines requires changing a setting in Excel before exporting. WukongPDF's PDF Printing conversion tools handle the export step, and the configuration below ensures that gridlines, row and column headings, and page layout all transfer correctly from the spreadsheet to the PDF.
The Setting That Controls Gridline Printing
In Excel, gridlines are a display feature, not a formatting feature. They appear on screen to help you navigate the spreadsheet, but they are not part of the cell formatting and do not print by default. To print them, open the Page Layout tab and check the Print box under Gridlines in the Sheet Options group. This setting tells Excel to include the screen gridlines in the printed output and in any PDF created from the print output.
The Print Gridlines setting applies to the entire sheet. You cannot selectively print gridlines for some cells and not others. If you need selective borders, use cell border formatting instead of relying on gridlines. Cell borders are part of the cell's format and print regardless of the gridline setting. For spreadsheets where only certain sections need visible cell boundaries, apply borders to those cells and leave Print Gridlines unchecked.
Setting the Print Area to Avoid Extra Pages
Excel spreadsheets that appear to fit on one page on screen can spill across multiple pages when printed or exported to PDF, because the print area extends to the last cell that contains any data, formatting, or even just a stray space. Set the print area explicitly before exporting. Select the range of cells that should appear in the PDF, go to Page Layout, and click Print Area, then Set Print Area.
After setting the print area, use Print Preview to check how many pages the selection spans. A spreadsheet that you expected to fit on one page may spread across four because the columns are wide and the font is large. In Page Layout, adjust the Width and Height scaling settings to fit the print area to the desired number of pages. Setting Width to 1 page forces all columns onto one page width. Setting Height to 1 page forces all rows onto one page height.
Including Row and Column Headings
Row numbers and column letters, the A, B, C across the top and 1, 2, 3 down the left side, help readers reference specific cells in the PDF. To include them, check the Print box under Headings in the Sheet Options group on the Page Layout tab. This setting is independent of the gridlines setting.
Row and column headings are useful for spreadsheets that will be reviewed collaboratively, where someone might say check cell D47 and the PDF reader needs to find D47 quickly. They are distracting for spreadsheets that serve as finished reports or presentation materials. Choose based on how the PDF will be used. A reference document benefits from headings. A polished deliverable looks cleaner without them.
| Print Setting | Location in Excel | Effect on PDF |
|---|---|---|
| Print Gridlines | Page Layout > Sheet Options > Gridlines > Print | Adds faint cell boundary lines to all cells |
| Print Headings | Page Layout > Sheet Options > Headings > Print | Adds row numbers and column letters |
| Set Print Area | Page Layout > Print Area > Set Print Area | Defines which cells appear in the output |
| Scale to Fit | Page Layout > Scale to Fit > Width/Height | Scales content to fit specified number of pages |
| Page Orientation | Page Layout > Orientation > Portrait/Landscape | Switches between vertical and horizontal layout |
Handling Page Breaks and Scaling
Excel's automatic page breaks often cut through the middle of important data rows. A page break that splits a summary row from its detail rows makes both pages harder to understand. Adjust page breaks manually in Page Break Preview view. Drag the blue page break lines to positions between logical data groups. Manual page breaks ensure that each PDF page contains a complete, coherent set of data.
Scaling trades readability for page count. Scaling a wide spreadsheet to fit one page width may shrink text to 6-point, which is unreadable in print. If scaling below 70% is needed to fit the content, consider switching to landscape orientation first, which gives more width, or splitting the content across multiple pages with repeated header rows. Readability should determine the page layout, not an arbitrary one-page target.
Handling Merged Cells and Conditional Formatting in PDF Output
Merged cells that span multiple columns or rows in Excel can break the PDF page layout. A merged title cell that spans columns A through F on a spreadsheet that prints columns A through D on page one and columns E through F on page two causes the title to split awkwardly across pages. Unmerge title cells before exporting, or place titles in a separate header row that prints on every page using the Print Titles setting.
Conditional formatting, color scales, data bars, icon sets, all render in the PDF if the print settings include color output. Check the PDF in print preview mode to confirm that conditional formatting colors print correctly and provide sufficient contrast for readability. A green-yellow-red color scale that looks clear on screen may print as indistinguishable shades of gray on a monochrome printer. For PDFs destined for print, test a color page on the target printer before committing to the full spreadsheet export.
Adding Print Titles for Multi-Page Spreadsheets
For spreadsheets that span multiple pages, repeating the header row on each page ensures readers know which column is which. In the Page Layout tab, click Print Titles. In the Sheet tab of the dialog, set Rows to repeat at top to the row or rows containing column headers. These rows print at the top of every page of the PDF.
Print titles are the single most important setting for multi-page spreadsheet PDFs. A 10-page spreadsheet without repeated headers is unreadable because the reader must flip back to page 1 to remember what column F contains. The same spreadsheet with repeated headers is self-documenting on every page. A few seconds configuring print titles makes the difference between a usable PDF and a frustrating one.