Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Excel in Microsoft 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: Controlling Display of Page Breaks.

Controlling Display of Page Breaks

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 8, 2025)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Excel in Microsoft 365

1

There are two types of page breaks that can appear in an Excel worksheet: manual or automatic. You insert page breaks manually by using the Breaks tool on the Page Layout tab of the ribbon. Automatic page breaks are those that are calculated by Excel based on various settings, such as page size, margins, cell size, and the like.

Excel allows you to control whether page breaks are displayed on-screen (as dashed lines) by following these steps:

  1. If you want to affect multiple worksheets, select all the worksheets you want affected. (Hold down the Ctrl key as you click the tab for each worksheet.)
  2. Display the Excel Options dialog box. (In Excel 2007 click the Office button and then click Excel Options. In Excel 2010 or a later version, display the File tab of the ribbon and then click Options.)
  3. Click the Advanced option at the left of the dialog box.
  4. Scroll through the available options until you find the "Display Options for this Worksheet" section. (See Figure 1.)

    5. Figure 1. The Advanced options of the Excel Options dialog box.

  5. If you did not select multiple worksheets in step 1, then use the drop-down list at the top of the section to indicate which worksheet you want to affect.
  6. Set the Show Page Breaks check box as desired. If selected, then Excel displays page breaks on-screen for the designated worksheet.
  7. Click OK.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (8847) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Excel in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Controlling Display of Page Breaks.

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

Saving Everything

Need to force users to save their work? It may be as simple as implementing a couple of macros that get a bit more ...

Discover More

Generating a Gift Exchange List

Want to figure out how to do a gift exchange for your family or office? There are a variety of ways you can approach the ...

Discover More

Deleting Shortcuts

Windows allows you to easily create any number of shortcuts you desire. If you want to get rid of those shortcuts at some ...

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)

Cell Movement After Enter

What happens when you press Enter in a cell depends on how you have Excel configured. Here's the way you can control the ...

Discover More

SUMIF Doesn't Recalc Automatically

What are you to do if you suspect that some of your worksheet functions aren't recalculating automatically? Here's some ...

Discover More

Slash Key No Longer Works as Expected

Press the slash key and Excel may display a series of keyboard commands near the ribbon. If this behavior drives you ...

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}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) 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 0 + 7?

2025-02-08 11:29:11

J. Woolley

You can see page breaks by switching the View from Normal to Page Layout or Page Break Preview. The three views are selected in the status bar at bottom-right of Excel's window or by use of the Ribbon. If you choose the Ribbon, pick
View > Page Layout (Alt+W+P) or View > Page Break Preview (Alt+W+I).

My Excel Toolbox includes the TogglePageBreaks macro to enable or disable display of page breaks on the active worksheet in Normal view. The keyboard shortcut is Ctrl+T P B. Undo (Ctrl+Z) is supported. Here is an abbreviated version:

Sub TogglePageBreaks()
    Const myName As String = "TogglePageBreaks"
    If TypeName(ActiveSheet) <> "Worksheet" Then Beep: Exit Sub
    With ActiveSheet
        .DisplayPageBreaks = (Not .DisplayPageBreaks)
    End With
    Application.OnUndo myName, (ThisWorkbook.Name + "!" + myName)
End Sub

See https://sites.google.com/view/MyExcelToolbox

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 SITES
 

Copyright © 2025 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.