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Prepare your Excel worksheet for printing
 
Applies to
Microsoft Excel 2002

Your worksheet looks fine on the screen, so you're ready to print—right? Not exactly. You'll save time and paper by following the steps described in this article to fine-tune your worksheet, avoid common printing problems, and print the result.

Make the worksheet easy to read

To help users scan and understand your worksheet data, try one or more of the following.

ShowInclude additional information and page numbers in headers or footers

You can add a header and footer that contains useful information about the printed worksheet, such as page numbers or the worksheet title.

Worksheet with header and footer

1  Header

2  Footer

Note  Headers and footers you specify automatically appear on every printed page. You cannot print headers or footers on the first page only.

Add a header or footer

  1. Click Page Setup on the File menu.
  2. Click the Header/Footer tab.
  3. Choose header or footer options.

Tip  For more information about built-in and custom headers and footers, see:

ShowPrint row and column headings or labels on every page

If a worksheet spans more than one page, you can print row and column headings or labels (also called print titles) on every page to ensure that the data is properly identified.

Worksheet with print titles

1  Column labels

Repeat row and column headings on printed pages

  1. Click Page Setup on the File menu.
  2. Click the Sheet tab, and then do one or both of the following:
    • To repeat row labels on every page, click Rows to repeat at top, and then enter the rows that contain the column labels.
    • To repeat column labels on every page, click Columns to repeat at left, and then enter the columns that contain the row labels.

ShowMake sure all data is visible

If text or numbers are too wide to fit in a column, the printed text will be truncated and the printed numbers will appear as pound signs (#). You can increase the column width to accommodate the data.

A list formatted for on-screen viewing

1  Column sizing

2  Row sizing

Adjust the column width to display all of the text

  1. Select the column, then point to Column on the Format menu.
  2. Click AutoFit Selection.

Wrap text to fit the column width

  1. On the Format menu, click Cells.
  2. On the Alignment tab, click Wrap text.

ShowMake the data easy to scan

To make your data more scannable, you might want to print gridlines on the worksheet so that the data stands out better. Or you could apply a different autoformat to help your readers zero in on important information.

Print gridlines

  1. Click Page Setup on the File menu.
  2. On the Sheet tab, click Gridlines.

Apply a different autoformat to specific data

  1. Select the data, and then click AutoFormat on the Format menu.
  2. Choose the format and formatting options you want.

Note  Keep in mind that formats that work well on screen may not produce good printed results. For example, if you're viewing in color but printing on a black-and-white printer, be sure to use colors that contrast well.

ShowCenter the worksheet and adjust its margins

For a better layout, you may want to center a worksheet horizontally or vertically.

Sizing handles

1  Margin sizing handles

2  Column sizing handles

Center a worksheet

  1. Click Page Setup on the File menu.
  2. On the Margins tab, under Center on page, select the Horizontally or Vertically check box.

ShowAdjust the margins

To provide extra space around the worksheet, or to allow room for a large header or footer, you can move the margins to the widths you want.

Adjust the margins using specific measurements

  1. Click Page Setup on the File menu.
  2. On the Margins tab, specify the size for the margin in the Top, Right, Bottom, and Left boxes.

Adjust the margins by dragging sizing handles

  1. On the File menu, click Print Preview
  2. Click Margins to display the sizing handles for margins, and then drag the top, right, bottom, or left margin handle to the margin width you want.

ShowSpecify that gridlines are printed

  1. Click the worksheet.
  2. On the File menu, click Page Setup, and then click the Sheet tab.
  3. Select or clear the Gridlines check box.
  4. Click Print.

Preview how the worksheet will print

Seeing a preview of your printout will allow you to make final adjustments before you print. In the print preview window, you can see items that aren't visible in the onscreen worksheet, such as margins, headers and footers, and print titles.

ShowPreview pages before you print

  • To see each page exactly as it will print, click Print Preview on the File menu.

    The buttons at the top of the print preview window give you quick access to the layout and printing options for your worksheet. For example, you can turn gridlines on or off, add page numbers, or change the order in which pages are printed. After you make a change, make sure to preview the worksheet again.

Tip  You can also adjust page breaks in the print preview window. To preview and adjust the page breaks, click Page Break Preview. For more information about working with page breaks, see Fix awkward page breaks.

Make the worksheet fit the page width

If the worksheet is too wide to fit on the printed page, try one or more of the following:

ShowSwitch to landscape orientation

If the worksheet has many more columns than will fit on a portrait page, you can switch to landscape orientation.
  1. Click Page Setup on the File menu.
  2. On the Page tab, under Orientation, click Orientation.

    Orientation options

ShowShrink the worksheet to fit the page

To fit a few more columns on the printed page, you can shrink the worksheet content to fit on a page.
  1. Click Page Setup on the File menu.
  2. On the Page tab, click Fit to, and enter 1 in the page(s) wide box.

    Tip  You can also specify a given number of pages wide and tall, or you can leave one of the values blank.

  3. You may want to preview the page again to make sure the font size isn't too small.

ShowAdjust the margins

To fit a few more columns on the printed page, you can adjust the width of margins or columns.
  1. Click Page Setup on the File menu.
  2. On the Margins tab, specify the size for the margin in the Top, Right, Bottom, and Left boxes.

Tip  You can also change the margins in Print Preview mode. On the File menu, click Print Preview. Click Margins button to display the sizing handles for margins and columns. Then drag the handles to the width you want.

Sizing handles

1  Margin sizing handles

2  Column sizing handles

ShowAdjust a vertical page break

If your data is too wide for one page, you can adjust vertical page breaks.
  1. Click Page Break Preview On the View menu.
  2. Drag a vertical page break to the new location you want.

Tip  Breaking a worksheet vertically can make it confusing to read, so it's a good idea to print row or column labels on every page to clarify the data.

ShowHide columns

If some columns contain data you don't need to print, you can temporarily hide the columns.
  • Select the columns you want to hide, point to Column on the Format menu, and then click Hide.

    Note  To unhide columns, select a column on each side of the hidden columns, point to Column on the Format menu, and then click Unhide.

Tip  If the first column of a worksheet is hidden, click Go To on the Edit menu. Type A1 in the Reference box, and click OK. Point to Column on the Format menu, and then click Unhide.

ShowFit A4 worksheets to letter paper

Ensure that A4 worksheets automatically resize to letter size in a printer that supports only letter paper printing.
  1. Click Options on the Tools menu.
  2. On the International tab, under Printing, select the Allow A4/Letter paper resizing check box.

ShowPrint only part of the worksheet

You can also try printing just a part of the worksheet. For information on printing partial worksheets, see Print all or part of the worksheet.

Fix awkward page breaks

If your data is too wide or long for one page, or if you want to keep specific data together on the same page, you can adjust the vertical and horizontal page breaks that were automatically set.

ShowAdjust a vertical page break

  1. Click Page Break Preview on the View menu.
  2. Drag a vertical page break to the new location.

    Tip  Breaking a worksheet vertically can make it confusing to read, so it's a good idea to print row or column labels on every page to clarify the data. For information on row and column labels, see Step 1: Make the worksheet easy to read.

ShowAdjust a horizontal page break

  1. Click Page Break Preview on the View menu.

    Note  In page break preview, dashed blue lines indicate automatic page breaks that Microsoft Excel inserts to divide the worksheet into multiple pages.

  2. To move a page break, drag it to a new location.

    The page break becomes a solid blue line, indicating that it's now a manual page break.

ShowInsert a new manual page break

  • Click the heading for the row below the row where you want to insert the page break, and then click Page Break on the Insert menu.

Page break preview

1  Automatic page breaks

2  Manual page breaks

Print all or part of the worksheet

You can choose exactly what you want to print. You can do the following:

ShowPrint all worksheets in your workbook

  1. Click Print on the File menu.
  2. Under Print what, click Entire workbook.

ShowPrint one or more worksheets

  1. Click the worksheet(s) you want, and then click Print on the File menu.

    Tip  Hold down CTRL to select more than one worksheet.

  2. Under Print what, click Active Sheet(s).

ShowPrint a portion of a worksheet

  1. Select the data you want to print, and then click Print on the File menu.
  2. Under Print what, click Selection.

If you plan to print a specific portion of a worksheet frequently, you can define it as a print area. That way, every time you print the worksheet, Excel prints only the data specified in the print area.

  • To set a print area, select the data you want to include in your printout, point to Print Area on the File menu, and then click Set Print Area.

    Note  You can only set one print area at a time. To clear a print area, point to Print Area on the File menu, and then click Clear Print Area.
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