Setting the Print Area

Excel allows you to easily define the portion of your worksheet that should be printed. To set the print area is, follow these steps:

1. Select the worksheet you want to print.
2. Display the Page Layout tab of the ribbon.
3. Select the cells you want included in the print area.
4. Click the Print Area tool, in the Page Setup group. Excel displays a few choices below the tool.
5. Click Set Print Area.

This is the simplest way to set the print area. There is a more involved way, however, that gives you a bit more flexibility in specifying what you want included in the print area:

1. Select the worksheet you want to print.
2. Display the Page Layout tab of the ribbon.
3. Click the small icon at the lower-right of the Page Setup group. Excel displays the Page Setup dialog box.
4. Make sure the Sheet tab is selected. (See Figure 1.)



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

5. In the Print Area field enter a range representing what you want printed.
6. Click on OK.

In step 5 you can enter either an actual cell range (such as A2:G35), or you can enter a name that has been assigned to a range. Excel even allows you to specify multiple parts of the same worksheet that should be printed. To do this, simply enter the ranges (or names) separated by commas, for example, B3:F14,B19:F30.

You can also use the mouse to select the print area. To do this, click first in the Print Area field (this causes the insertion point to appear in the field). Then use the mouse to select the cells that you want included. As you select a range of cells, the address of the range is automatically shown in the Print Area field.

Be warned, though, that using this method means that once the print area is defined, Excel will only print that selection until the option is changed or removed. You'll have to remember to change it if you need to print a different selection or the entire spreadsheet.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (6294) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Setting the Print Area.