Omitting Page Numbers on Some Pages

Roger wonders how he can add page numbers to all pages of a worksheet except the first four. He doesn't want to have to split the worksheet into two.

Excel allows you to specify, in the header or footer, page numbers for whatever you print out. However, that is about it—Excel doesn't allow you to specify different headers or footers for different pages, as you can with Word.

So, the solution is to simply perform your printing in two passes. You would set your footer (without page numbers) and then print pages 1-4. Then, modify the footer (remove the page numbers) and print starting with page 5.

Of course, doing this each time you want to print could become tedious. It would be easier to make the changes and do the printing using a macro. Here's one that can do it for you:

Sub SpecialPrint1()
    ActiveSheet.PageSetup.CenterFooter = ""
    ActiveWindow.SelectedSheets.PrintOut From:=1, To:=4

    ActiveSheet.PageSetup.CenterFooter = "Page &P"
    ActiveWindow.SelectedSheets.PrintOut From:=5

    ActiveSheet.PageSetup.CenterFooter = ""
End Sub

This macro essentially automates the manual process already mentioned. There are two print passes done in the macro; you can identify these by the use of the .PrintOut method. The first pass prints pages 1-4 and the second prints from page 5 onward.

Before each print pass, the macro sets the center portion of the footer (using the .CenterFooter property) to whatever is appropriate for that pass. You can change which portion of the header or footer is modified simply by changing the references to the .CenterFooter property to whatever is appropriate: .LeftHeader, .CenterHeader, .RightHeader, .LeftFooter, .CenterFooter, or .RightFooter.

Note that the macro assumes that you want page 5 to have the page number printed as 5. If, instead, you want the page number printed as 1 in the second pass, then you should modify the macro just a bit so that it specifies a different start page number for the second print pass:

Sub SpecialPrint2()
    ActiveSheet.PageSetup.CenterFooter = ""
    ActiveWindow.SelectedSheets.PrintOut From:=1, To:=4

    ActiveSheet.PageSetup.CenterFooter = "Page &P"
    ActiveSheet.PageSetup.FirstPageNumber = -3
    ActiveWindow.SelectedSheets.PrintOut From:=5

    ActiveSheet.PageSetup.CenterFooter = ""
    ActiveSheet.PageSetup.FirstPageNumber = xlAutomatic
End Sub

By setting the .FirstPageNumber property to -3, this means that Excel will treat pages 1-4 as -3, -2, -1, and 0, with page 5 being treated as page 1.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (13822) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365.