Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Excel in Microsoft 365, and 2021. 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: Setting Header/Footer Margins.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated November 25, 2023)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Excel in Microsoft 365, and 2021
When you create an Excel worksheet, you have the ability to change the margins used when the information in the worksheet is printed. This is done by choosing Page Setup from the File menu (Excel 2007) or Margins | Custom Margins from the Page Layout tab of the ribbon (Excel 2010 or a later version,) then making adjustments on the Margins tab. The default left and right margin values are .7 inches, unless you change them as described in other issues of ExcelTips.
If you want to make sure that Excel adjusts where it begins and ends the header and footer consistent with your overall margins, you need to follow these steps:
Figure 1. The Header/Footer tab of the Page Setup dialog box.
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (8068) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Excel in Microsoft 365, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Setting Header/Footer Margins.
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2023-11-25 10:25:34
J. Woolley
@dave
Are you referring to Figure 1? What is wrong with it? How is the text different?
2023-11-25 09:25:46
dave
the photo doesn't match the text
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Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Excel in Microsoft 365, and 2021. 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:
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