Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, and 2013. 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: Excel Refuses to Put Page Breaks between Subtotal Groups.

Excel Refuses to Put Page Breaks between Subtotal Groups

by Allen Wyatt
(last updated March 29, 2014)

1

Sandy noted that when she inserts subtotals into her worksheet, she usually clicks the insert page break between groups button. It doesn't seem, however, that the page breaks are inserted. When Sandy looks at the worksheet in both Print Preview and Page Break Preview, Excel does not show the page breaks as being present.

The only time that this behavior should occur is if you direct Excel (in the Page Setup options) to fit the printout to a specific number of pages. You can check to see if this is the case in this manner:

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

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

  4. Make sure the Adjust To option is selected and set to 100%.
  5. Click OK.

The reason that you need to make this change is that if you have your page setup configured to fit your printout to a specific number of pages, Excel basically ignores any page breaks in your worksheet.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (8702) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, and 2013. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Excel Refuses to Put Page Breaks between Subtotal Groups.

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

Getting the Name of the Parent Workbook

If you need to insert into a cell the name of the workbook in which a worksheet is contained, you can use the CELL ...

Discover More

Assigning Macros to Graphics

The graphics you place in a worksheet can do more than just look pretty. You can also assign macros to a graphic, which ...

Discover More

Limiting Directories in the FILENAME Field

When you use the FILENAME field in a document, it can include the full path name that leads to your file. This might be ...

Discover More

Excel Smarts for Beginners! Featuring the friendly and trusted For Dummies style, this popular guide shows beginners how to get up and running with Excel while also helping more experienced users get comfortable with the newest features. Check out Excel 2013 For Dummies today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Understanding Auditing

Excel provides some great tools that can help you see the relationships between the formulas in your worksheets. These ...

Discover More

Counting with Subtotals

There are a variety of ways you can count information in different groupings. One convenient way is to use the ...

Discover More

Accessing Dependent and Precedent Information

The auditing tools provided in Excel can provide some very helpful information about how your formulas and data are ...

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 five more than 8?

2014-06-09 05:05:55

Anna

Thanks - finally worked! Done it before dozens of times with no problems though. Must have tried something different!

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 © 2018 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.