
Step 2: Click on the " Page Layout" tab in the ribbon.

Step 1: Select the cells that you want to print. To set up a print area in Excel, follow these steps: Overall, defining a print area can help you save time, money, and improve the quality of your printed worksheets. Improving clarity: Printing a specific part of a worksheet can make it easier to read and understand, especially if you have a large worksheet with many columns and rows.This can help to prevent awkward page breaks that split data across pages. Controlling page breaks: By setting a print area, you can control where page breaks occur on your printed pages.Printing specific data: By defining a print area, you can print only the data that is relevant to your needs, making it easier to read and analyze.Saving paper and ink: When you print only the necessary cells, you save paper and ink and reduce printing costs.This can be helpful in several ways, including: Why should you define a print area when printing Excel spreadsheets?ĭefining a print area in Excel is useful because it allows you to print a specific part of your worksheet rather than the entire worksheet.
EXCEL SET PRINT AREA HOW TO
Is your Excel spreadsheet difficult to read, even after setting a custom print area? Try printing with gridlines in Excel 2013 to see if that makes it easier to read a printed sheet.In this article you will learn how to set up a print area to print your excel sheets meaningfully. You can find this by going to the Page Layout tab then checking the box to the left of Print under Gridlines. But you can force it to print blank cells with a print area if you are going to be writing information into cells.Įxcel doesn’t print gridlines by default, so you may need to change that setting, too. Excel will typically only print cells that contain data. One additional reason that you might want to use print areas in Microsoft Excel is if you need to print some blank cells in your spreadsheet. I typically use one of these options if there are a couple of rows or columns that are printing on their own pages, as that can make the data difficult to read. There you will see the following options: You can find this by going to File > Print then clicking the No Scaling button. If you have chosen a print area and find that you are still using more pages than you would like, then you might want to change the fit setting for the spreadsheet. If you are setting a print area in an Excel spreadsheet then it is likely because you are trying to reduce the number of pages that you use when you print the document. This is going to clear the existing print area. If you wish to remove the print area, then simply return to the menu in Step 4, but select the Clear Print Area option from the drop down menu instead. This should now be showing only the print area that you just set. Once you have defined the print area for your spreadsheet you can then click the File tab, then click Print to get to your Print Preview. If you are having difficulty visualizing the print area that you just selected, then it can help to check the print preview to see how everything will look. More Information on How to Set Print Area – Excel 2013 Our tutorial continues below with additional discussion on working with the print area in Excel 2013.

Step 2: Highlight the cells that you want to set as the print area.Įxcel will print blank cells if they are included in a print area, so this can be a helpful solution if you need to print out a blank grid and complete it manually, such as when doing a physical inventory. If you find that only parts of a spreadsheet are printing, such as a spreadsheet that you have received from another person, then the print area is likely the reason for that behavior. If you save the Excel file after setting a print area, then that setting will remain. This means that only the selected portion of the spreadsheet will print.

The steps below will show you how to select an area in your spreadsheet, then set it as the print area. Microsoft Excel 2013 – Set Print Area (Guide with Pictures) Our guide continues below with additional information on setting a print area in Excel, including pictures of these steps.

4 Additional Reading How to Create a Print Area in Microsoft Excel 2013
