diff --git a/NAMESPACE b/NAMESPACE
index 21186b69..b7394fa6 100644
--- a/NAMESPACE
+++ b/NAMESPACE
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 # Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
 
-S3method(knit_print,tinytable)
-S3method(knitr::knit_print,tinytable)
+S3method(knitr::knit_print, tinytable)
 S3method(print,tinytable)
 export(format_tt)
 export(group_tt)
+export(knit_print.tinytable)
 export(plot_tt)
 export(save_tt)
 export(style_tt)
diff --git a/R/print.R b/R/print.R
index 42edc957..ccfecb0c 100644
--- a/R/print.R
+++ b/R/print.R
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 #'
 #' @keywords internal
 #' @return A string with class `knit_asis` to be printed in Rmarkdown or Quarto documents.
-#' @exportS3Method knitr::knit_print
+#' @rawNamespace S3method(knitr::knit_print, tinytable)
 #' @export
 knit_print.tinytable <- function(x,
                                  output = get_option("tinytable_print_output", default = NULL),
diff --git a/R/sanity.R b/R/sanity.R
index ff119a2f..c0a07a7f 100644
--- a/R/sanity.R
+++ b/R/sanity.R
@@ -448,3 +448,38 @@ sanity_num_mark <- function(digits, num_mark_big, num_mark_dec) {
     if (num_mark_dec != ".") stop("`num_mark_dec` requires a `digits` value.", call. = FALSE)
   }
 }
+
+get_deleted_cells <- function(sty) {
+  # If no spanning cells, return empty data frame
+  if (!any(!is.na(sty$colspan) | !is.na(sty$rowspan))) {
+    return(data.frame(row = integer(0), col = integer(0)))
+  }
+  
+  # Get rows with spanning cells
+  span_rows <- which(!is.na(sty$colspan) | !is.na(sty$rowspan))
+  
+  deleted_cells <- lapply(span_rows, function(idx) {
+    colspan <- sty$colspan[idx]
+    rowspan <- sty$rowspan[idx]
+    row <- sty$row[idx]
+    col <- sty$col[idx]
+    
+    # Convert NA to 1 for non-spanning dimension
+    colspan <- if(is.na(colspan)) 1L else as.integer(colspan)
+    rowspan <- if(is.na(rowspan)) 1L else as.integer(rowspan)
+    
+    # Create grid of all spanned cells
+    grid <- expand.grid(
+      row = row:(row + rowspan - 1),
+      col = col:(col + colspan - 1)
+    )
+    
+    # Remove the original cell
+    grid <- grid[!(grid$row == row & grid$col == col), ]
+    
+    return(grid)
+  })
+  
+  # Combine all deleted cells
+  do.call(rbind, deleted_cells)
+}
diff --git a/R/style_bootstrap.R b/R/style_bootstrap.R
index a557b4ee..ae5d46e3 100644
--- a/R/style_bootstrap.R
+++ b/R/style_bootstrap.R
@@ -51,13 +51,23 @@ setMethod(
     )
     css <- rep("", nrow(rec))
 
+    del <- get_deleted_cells(sty)
+    if (nrow(del) > 0) {
+      rec <- merge(rec, del, all.x = TRUE,sort = FALSE)
+    } else {
+      rec$tinytable_deleted_cell <- FALSE
+    }
+
     for (row in seq_len(nrow(sty))) {
       # index: sty vs rec
       idx_i <- sty$i[row]
       if (is.na(idx_i)) idx_i <- unique(rec$i)
       idx_j <- sty$j[row]
       if (is.na(idx_j)) idx_j <- unique(rec$j)
-      idx <- rec$i == idx_i & rec$j == idx_j
+      idx <- idx_line <- (rec$i %in% idx_i & rec$j %in% idx_j)
+
+      # deleted cells with rowspan or colspan are not styled but have lines
+      idx[which(rec$tinytable_deleted_cell)] <- FALSE
 
       if (isTRUE(sty[row, "bold"])) css[idx] <- paste(css[idx], "font-weight: bold;")
       if (isTRUE(sty[row, "italic"])) css[idx] <- paste(css[idx], "font-style: italic;")
@@ -96,7 +106,7 @@ setMethod(
       if (template != "") {
         lin <- paste(lin, sprintf(template, line_color, line_width))
       }
-      css[idx] <- paste(css[idx], lin)
+      css[idx_line] <- paste(css[idx_line], lin)
     }
 
     css <- gsub(" +", " ", trimws(css))
@@ -106,6 +116,7 @@ setMethod(
     rec$j <- rec$j - 1
 
 
+
     # spans: before styles because we return(x) if there is no style
     for (row in seq_len(nrow(sty))) {
       rowspan <- if (!is.na(sty$rowspan[row])) sty$rowspan[row] else 1
@@ -146,3 +157,26 @@ setMethod(
     return(x)
   }
 )
+
+
+
+
+get_deleted_cells <- function(sty) {
+  out <- sty[which(sty$rowspan > 1 | sty$colspan > 1), ]
+  if (nrow(out) == 0) return(out)
+  out$rowspan <- ifelse(is.na(out$rowspan), 1, out$rowspan)
+  out$colspan <- ifelse(is.na(out$colspan), 1, out$colspan)
+  out <- lapply(seq_len(nrow(out)), function(k) {
+    row <- out[k, , drop = FALSE]
+    del <- expand.grid(
+      i = row$i:(row$i + row$rowspan - 1),
+      j = row$j:(row$j + row$colspan - 1)
+    )
+    del <- del[!(del$i == row$i & del$j == row$j), ]
+    return(del)
+  })
+  out <- do.call(rbind, out)
+  out$tinytable_deleted_cell <- TRUE
+  sty <- merge(sty, out, all.x = TRUE)
+  return(out)
+}
diff --git a/man/knit_print.tinytable.Rd b/man/knit_print.tinytable.Rd
index 11888660..e3927911 100644
--- a/man/knit_print.tinytable.Rd
+++ b/man/knit_print.tinytable.Rd
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 \alias{knit_print.tinytable}
 \title{Print a tinytable object in knitr}
 \usage{
-\method{knit_print}{tinytable}(
+knit_print.tinytable(
   x,
   output = get_option("tinytable_print_output", default = NULL),
   ...