Excel is a powerful and versatile tool that allows you to create, analyze, and present data in various ways. However, when it comes to printing your Excel spreadsheets, you may encounter some challenges and frustrations. How do you make sure that your data fits on one page or a few pages? How do you adjust the margins, orientation, and paper size? How do you print only the parts of the worksheet that you need? How do you preview the printout before sending it to the printer?
In this article, we will show you some tips and tricks on how to print Excel spreadsheet on paper nicely. We will cover the following topics:
How to check how many pages would be printed (preview)
How to choose what to print: selection, sheet or entire workbook
How to fit and print Excel sheet on one page
How to print formulas, charts, gridlines, headers, comments, and labels
Let’s get started!
How to Check How Many Pages Would be Printed (Preview)
Before you print your Excel worksheet, it is a good idea to check how the printout would look like and how many pages would be printed. This way, you can avoid wasting paper and ink, and also make any necessary adjustments to improve the appearance of your data.
To preview the printout, follow these steps:
Click the File tab and then click Print. Alternatively, you can press Ctrl + P on your keyboard.
In the Print Preview window, you can see how many pages would be printed and what would be printed on each page.
You can use the arrow keys at the bottom of the window to go to the next or previous page.
You can also zoom in or out by using the slider at the bottom right corner of the window.
How to Choose What to Print: Selection, Sheet or Entire Workbook
By default, Excel prints all the active sheets in your workbook. However, you may not want to print everything in your worksheet. For example, you may only want to print a specific range of cells, a table, or a chart. Or you may want to print multiple sheets or the entire workbook.
To choose what to print, follow these steps:
Click the File tab and then click Print.
Under Settings, click the arrow next to Print Active Sheets and select one of these options:
Print Selection: This option allows you to print only a specific range of cells that you have selected on your worksheet. To select non-adjacent cells or ranges, hold the Ctrl key while selecting.
Print Active Sheets: This option allows you to print all the sheets that are currently visible in your workbook. To select multiple sheets, click on the sheet tabs while holding the Ctrl key.
Print Entire Workbook: This option allows you to print all the sheets in your workbook, regardless of whether they are visible or hidden.
Print Selected Table: This option allows you to print only an Excel table that you have created on your worksheet. This option appears only when you have selected a cell within your table or its part.
How to Fit and Print Excel Sheet on One Page
One of the most common problems when printing Excel spreadsheets is that they may not fit on one page or a few pages. This can result in data being cut off or spread across multiple pages. To avoid this issue, you can use some methods to fit all your data on one page or fewer pages.
Here are some methods that you can use:
Adjust the column width (or row height): In many cases, you don’t need your columns to be too wide or your rows to be too tall. By reducing the column width or row height, you can save space and fit more data on one page. To do this, place the cursor at the edge of the column header or row header that you want to resize and drag it left or right (or up or down). To resize multiple columns or rows at once, select them first and then drag one of them.
Change the page orientation: Depending on the shape of your data, changing the page orientation from portrait (vertical) to landscape (horizontal) or vice versa can help you fit more data on one page. To do this, click the Page Layout tab and then click Orientation in the Page Setup group. Choose either Portrait or Landscape from the drop-down menu.
Change the paper size: Another way to fit more data on one page is to change the paper size from letter (8.5 x 11 inches) to legal (8.5 x 14 inches) or A4 (8.27 x 11.69 inches) or any other size that suits your needs. To do this, click the Page Layout tab and then click Size in the Page Setup group. Choose a paper size from the drop-down menu or click More Paper Sizes to customize your own size.
Scale your worksheet: If none of the above methods work for you, you can use the scaling option to shrink or enlarge your worksheet to fit on one page or a few pages. To do this, click the Page Layout tab and then click the small arrow at the bottom right corner of the Scale to Fit group. This will open the Page Setup dialog box. In the Scaling section, you can choose one of these options:
Adjust to: This option allows you to enter a percentage value to scale your worksheet. For example, if you enter 50%, your worksheet will be reduced to half its original size.
Fit to: This option allows you to enter the number of pages wide and tall that you want your worksheet to fit. For example, if you enter 1 page wide by 1 page tall, your worksheet will be scaled to fit on one page. If you enter 2 pages wide by 1 page tall, your worksheet will be scaled to fit on two pages horizontally and one page vertically.
How to Print Formulas, Charts, Gridlines, Headers, Comments, and Labels
Besides printing your data, you may also want to print some other elements of your worksheet, such as formulas, charts, gridlines, headers, comments, and labels. Here is how you can do that:
Print formulas: To print the formulas instead of the values in your worksheet, follow these steps:
Press Ctrl + ` (the key above the Tab key) on your keyboard. This will display the formulas in your worksheet.
Click the File tab and then click Print.
Under Settings, choose what to print and then click Print.
Press Ctrl + ` again to switch back to the normal view.
Print charts: To print a chart that you have created on your worksheet, follow these steps:
Click on the chart to select it.
Click the File tab and then click Print.
Under Settings, choose Print Selection and then click Print.
Print gridlines: To print the gridlines that separate the cells in your worksheet, follow these steps:
Click the Page Layout tab and then check the Gridlines box in the Sheet Options group.
Click the File tab and then click Print.
Under Settings, choose what to print and then click Print.
Print headers: To print the column letters and row numbers at the top and left of your worksheet, follow these steps:
Click the Page Layout tab and then check the Headings box in the Sheet Options group.
Click the File tab and then click Print.
Under Settings, choose what to print and then click Print.
Print comments: To print the comments that you or others have added to your worksheet, follow these steps:
Click the Review tab and then click Show All Comments in the Comments group. This will display all the comments in your worksheet.
Click the File tab and then click Print.
Under Settings, click the arrow next to No Scaling and select one of these options:
As displayed on sheet: This option will print the comments as they appear on your worksheet. You can resize or move the comments by dragging their edges or corners.
At end of sheet: This option will print the comments at the end of your worksheet. You can change the font size or color of the comments by clicking Page Setup > Sheet > Comments.
Choose what to print and then click Print.
Print labels: To print mailing labels from a list of names and addresses in your worksheet, follow these steps:
Click the Mailings tab and then click Start Mail Merge in the Start Mail Merge group. Choose Labels from the drop-down menu. This will open the Label Options dialog box.
In the Label Options dialog box, choose your printer type, label vendor, and product number. You can also click Details to see more information about your label size and layout. Click OK when done.
In your worksheet, select the range of cells that contains your names and addresses. Make sure that each record is in a separate row and each field is in a separate column. For example:
Name Address City State Zip
John Smith 123 Main Street New York NY 10001
Jane Doe 456 Park Avenue Los Angeles CA 90001
Bob Jones 789 Elm Street Chicago IL 60001
Click Select Recipients in the Start Mail Merge group and choose Use an Existing List from the drop-down menu. This will open a dialog box where you can browse for your worksheet file. Select it and click Open.
In another dialog box that appears, select the sheet name that contains your data and check if it has headers (column labels). Click OK when done.
Click Insert Merge Field in the Write & Insert Fields group and choose a field name from the drop-down menu. Repeat this step for each field that
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