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: Adding the Set Print Area Tool.

Adding the Set Print Area Tool

by Allen Wyatt
(last updated August 28, 2021)

If you have the need to define different areas of a worksheet to print, you know that you can do so by simply defining different print areas in your worksheet. The normal way you do this is to select the range of cells you want in the print area, display the Page Layout tab of the ribbon, click the Print Area tool (in the Page Setup group), and then choose Set Print Area.

If you need to change print areas quite often, these steps may get tiresome. You may be interested in speeding things up a bit by adding a tool to the Quick Access toolbar that defines the print area. Follow these steps:

  1. 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.)
  2. At the left side of the dialog box click Customize (Excel 2007) or Quick Access Toolbar (Excel 2010 or a later version). (See Figure 1.)

    3. Figure 1. The Customize area of the Excel Options dialog box.

  3. Use the Choose Commands From drop-down list to choose All Commands.
  4. In the list of Commands, scroll down until you see the Set Print Area command. Select the command.
  5. Click the Add button. The command is now listed in the box at the right side of the dialog box.
  6. Click on OK.

Now, when you need to set a print area, you simply choose the area on the screen and click on the Set Print Area button.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (9842) 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: Adding the Set Print Area Tool.

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

Searching a Workbook by Default

When you display the Find tab of the Find and Replace dialog box, you'll notice that any search, by default, will be on ...

Discover More

Quicker Multiple Replace Operations

Need to replace a lot of the same characters very, very quickly? Here's a great way to do the replacement.

Discover More

Monday's Date on Friday's Report

Automatically putting today's date at the top of a report is easy. Putting a different date, automatically, can be more ...

Discover More

Professional Development Guidance! Four world-class developers offer start-to-finish guidance for building powerful, robust, and secure applications with Excel. The authors show how to consistently make the right design decisions and make the most of Excel's powerful features. Check out Professional Excel Development today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Locking the Print Area

Excel allows you to specify an area of your worksheet that should be printed. Here's how to "lock" that area so it cannot ...

Discover More

Setting Print Ranges for Multiple Worksheets

Need the same print range set for different worksheets in the same workbook? It can't be done in one step manually, but ...

Discover More

Copying Print Areas when Copying Worksheets

Print areas are a great way to define what, exactly, you want to print from a worksheet. When you copy worksheets, the ...

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 two less than 8?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

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 © 2021 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.