MS Excel: Cell Borders Shortcuts Windows, Mac, Web

Applying borders in Excel is not just about aesthetics—it helps clarify data structures, separate sections, and enhance overall readability. Knowing the right keyboard shortcuts can significantly speed up your workflow.

Why Use Borders in Excel?

• Clarify structure: Make tables and categories more distinguishable

• Highlight key data: Add emphasis to totals or headers

• Prepare printable reports: Improve presentation for printing and sharing

Excel 2021 Cell Borders Shortcuts

Action	Windows Shortcut	Mac Shortcut	Excel for Web	Description
Apply Outline Border	Ctrl + Shift + &	Command + Option + 0 (zero)	Not available	Adds borders to all four sides of the selection.
Remove All Borders	Ctrl + Shift + _	Command + Option + -	Not available	Clears all borders from the selected range.
Open Border Menu	Alt → H → B	Command + Control + Option + B	Not available	Opens the border options menu.
Top Border	Alt → H → B → P	No direct shortcut	Not available	Applies border only to the top edge.
Bottom Border	Alt → H → B → O	No direct shortcut	Not available	Applies a border to the bottom edge of the selected cells.
Left Border	Alt → H → B → L	No direct shortcut	Not available	Adds a border to the left side.
Right Border	Alt → H → B → R	No direct shortcut	Not available	Adds a border to the right edge.
No Border	Alt → H → B → N	No direct shortcut	Not available	Removes all borders.
All Borders	Alt → H → B → A	No direct shortcut	Not available	Applies borders to all internal and external edges.
Thick Box Border	Alt → H → B → T	No direct shortcut	Not available	Applies a thick box around the selection.
Bottom Double Border	Alt → H → B → D	No direct shortcut	Not available	Applies a double underline-style border to the bottom edge.

Pro Tips

• Combine border shortcuts with table styles for cleaner formatting.

• Use cell styles to preset bordered cells for rapid use.

• For frequent actions, consider creating a macro assigned to a shortcut key.

Conclusion

Borders are more than just lines—they bring structure, emphasis, and clarity to your worksheets. By mastering Excel's cell border shortcuts, you’ll spend less time on formatting and more time analyzing your data.

Whether you're designing reports, dashboards, or data-entry forms, these shortcuts will elevate your spreadsheet professionalism and efficiency.