Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Office 365. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Quickly Removing Table Borders.
When you insert a table in Word, it automatically adds a border around the cells in the table. For many purposes, you may not want the borders. There are many different ways to get rid of the borders, but perhaps the simplest is to simply press Ctrl+Alt+U right after inserting the table. (After you insert the table, the insertion point is typically within a cell of the table. If it is not, you should make sure you place the insertion point within the table before pressing Ctrl+Alt+U.)
It is important to note that the Ctrl+Alt+U shortcut removes all formatting from the table—not just the borders. If you want to remove the borders but keep other formatting in your table, select your whole table and choose No Borders from the drop-down list on the Borders tool in the Borders group on the Table Design tab of the ribbon.
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (13133) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Office 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Quickly Removing Table Borders.
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2014-11-15 14:55:55
rpurosky
Ms. Byrd, yes of course. You don't have to see the gridlines to move them, but it makes it easier. While in the table, go to the Table Tools Layout ribbon (Word 7) and click the second button, View Gridlines if it is not already on. The gridlines you see are non-printing and solely for the purpose of moving or cell selecting. However, as I mentioned first, if you can't see a gridline, you can still tell when you are pointing at it by the shape of your mouse.
2014-11-14 14:27:50
Ms. Byrd
After the lined border is removed, is there anyway to move the gridlines for the border?
2014-06-16 10:18:50
Jennifer Thomas
Thanks for posting that, rpurosky -- as I read the tip I thought 'wait, wait - there's something they should know first ...' and your post was that important point!
2014-06-16 09:06:05
rpurosky
Looking through help (I know, who DOES that?), it looks like Ctrl+Alt+U is for TableUpdateAutoFormat. This shortcut removes all formatting from a table, including borders as the tip implies. However, that means that ALL formatting will be removed, including font formats which you might want to keep. I like shortcuts, but its just a couple steps to click the table selector in the upper left corner and from either the Home ribbon or Table Tools/Design ribbon, use the Borders pick list for No Border.
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Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Office 365. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: 
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