1. Understanding Gridlines in Excel

a. The Basic Concept of Gridlines

In Microsoft Excel, gridlines are the faint lines that differentiate each cell, row, and column. The purpose of having these gridlines is to assist users in data entry and give the spreadsheet a more defined and organized appearance. Understanding the nature of gridlines and their role in Excel forms the preliminary step for users who wish to remove them or manipulate their appearance. Specific familiarity of gridlines is particularly crucial in visualizing data in a comprehensive manner.

b. Benefits of Using Gridlines in Excel

More so, the gridlines facilitate the ease of reading and differentiating between cells, especially in large worksheets. They can also aid in aligning graphical elements more efficiently. For instance, users might find it useful to align their graphs or charts with the gridlines to maintain consistency. Despite these benefits, certain scenarios necessitate the removal or hiding of these gridlines, especially for presentation purposes or to achieve a clean spreadsheet layout free from any sort of distractions.

c. Typical Scenarios for Removing Gridlines

Most users decide to remove gridlines in excel for aesthetic reasons. For instance, when preparing a report or presentation which necessitates a clean, professional appearance, gridlines may be deemed unnecessary. Another scenario is when users prefer to create their own custom borders, in which case the default Excel gridlines might interfere with the design and layout. It's crucial, therefore, that users become familiar with the process of removing gridlines in Excel.

2. Step-by-step Process of Removing Gridlines

a. For Individual Cells or Worksheets

Users can choose to remove Excel gridlines from the entire worksheet or individual cells. To remove them, they would need to select the specific cells or click on 'Select All' for an entire worksheet, and then navigate to the 'Borders' icon on the 'Home' tab. Within this dropdown, users can select 'No Border' to remove all gridlines. It's a straightforward method and does not take more than a few seconds to implement and get results.

b. For Entire Workbook

On the other hand, removing gridlines from an entire workbook involves a slightly different approach. Users would need to click on 'File', then 'Options', then 'Advanced'. On the right-hand side, under 'Display options for this worksheet', users should deselect 'Show gridlines'. This will remove all gridlines from the entire workbook.

c. Using Excel's Paint Format Tool

The Paint Format tool in Excel is yet another handy feature that allows users to copy formatting from one cell and apply it to others. If users want to remove gridlines from a specific group of cells, they could first remove the gridlines from a single cell, then use the Paint Format tool to apply this formatting to the other cells. This feature significantly reduces time and effort by not having to manually select each cell to remove gridlines.

3. Practical Tips and Guidelines

a. Visual Effects of Removing Gridlines

While removing gridlines may make a spreadsheet look aesthetically clean and professional, it may also make it harder to read and interpret, particularly for large datasets. As such, users should consider this effect when deciding to remove gridlines. In some cases, custom borders or color fills might be a better option.

b. Printing Excel Sheets without Gridlines

Interestingly, gridlines in Excel do not print as default – users would have to manually set this up in the print settings. Therefore, for users choosing to remove gridlines primarily for printing purposes, they may not need to.

c. Alternatives and Variations

Instead of removing gridlines entirely, users might opt for alternatives like changing their color or thickness. This option gives users the flexibility of maintaining the grid structure while altering its appearance according to their preference.