Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Office 365. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Hiding Errors on Printouts.

Hiding Errors on Printouts

by Allen Wyatt
(last updated March 7, 2015)

1

Excel has a number of different errors that can appear in your worksheet, for any number of reasons. Errors values show up with a pound (hash) symbol followed by the type of error, as in #DIV/0! or #N/A.

When you print your worksheet, Excel prints the error values, by default. If you prefer, you can choose to have Excel not print the error values. Follow these steps:

  1. Display the Page Layout tab of the ribbon.
  2. Click the small icon at the lower-right of the Page Setup group. Excel displays the Page Setup dialog box.
  3. Make sure the Sheet tab is displayed. (See Figure 1.)

    4. Figure 1. The Sheet tab of the Page Setup dialog box.

  4. Use the Cell Errors As drop-down list to specify how you want the error values printed.
  5. Click OK to close the Page Setup dialog box.

In step 3, you have several options in the drop-down list:

  • Displayed. Prints the error values as they show in the worksheet.
  • <Blank>. Replaces the error value with a blank; effectively hides the error values.
  • --. Replaces the error value with two dashes.
  • #N/A. Replaces all error values with #N/A.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (6144) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Office 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Hiding Errors on Printouts.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Using the IF Worksheet Function

Programmers know that a staple of any language is the ability to create conditional statements. Excel understands this, ...

Discover More

Summing Digits in a Value

Want to add up all the digits in a given value? It's a bit trickier than it may at first seem.

Discover More

Accepting Capitalization of a Proper Noun

If a word is normally supposed to be lowercase, Word helpfully lets you know if you incorrectly capitalize it. If you ...

Discover More

Program Successfully in Excel! John Walkenbach's name is synonymous with excellence in deciphering complex technical topics. With this comprehensive guide, "Mr. Spreadsheet" shows how to maximize your Excel experience using professional spreadsheet application development tips from his own personal bookshelf. Check out Excel 2013 Power Programming with VBA today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Printing a Number of Different Pages

If you don't need to print an entire workbook, it can be confusing to figure out how to print just certain pages. This ...

Discover More

Protecting Print Settings

Need to have your print settings always be a certain way? Tired of resetting the settings after others use the workbook ...

Discover More

Forcing Worksheets to Print on a New Sheet

Excel allows you to easily print an entire workbook. Doing so, however, may not give the desired results if you a ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is nine minus 4?

2015-03-07 15:36:42

Kenn Ritza

Thank you, thank you for the tip on not printing error reports. I've been printing and sending out weekly reports for a retired pool players group for 18 years with the errors showing; now they'll be blank. Again, thank you!

This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.

Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR AUTHORS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2020 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.