Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 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: Adding Ampersands in Headers and Footers.

Adding Ampersands in Headers and Footers

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated July 31, 2021)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021


One of the finishing touches often applied to a worksheet is to create headers and footers that print on every page. You may have noticed that some characters won't print in a header or footer. For instance, if you work at a company named Drury & James, and you put the company name in the header or footer, it will print as Drury James, omitting the ampersand.

The reason for this is because the ampersand signals, to Excel, that the next character is "special" and represents a code controlling some aspect of what is printed. To override the effect that the ampersand has, simply use two ampersands, as in Drury && James. When you do, the first ampersand is "swallowed" by Excel and the second one actually prints.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (11227) 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: Adding Ampersands in Headers and Footers.

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

Controlling Display of the Status Bar

Turning off the status bar through the options menu.

Discover More

Columns within Text Boxes

When creating a layout for your document, you might use text boxes to position text in specific places. If you want those ...

Discover More

Heavy-Duty Footnotes

Word allows you to add footnotes to a document, but they are rather straightforward and simple in their application. If ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 365 applications with VBA programming. Written in clear terms and understandable language, the book includes systematic tutorials and contains both intermediate and advanced content for experienced VB developers. Designed to be comprehensive, the book addresses not just one Office application, but the entire Office suite. Check out Mastering VBA for Microsoft Office 365 today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Date Last Edited

When adding headers or footers to your worksheets, you may want to include the date that the workbook was last edited. ...

Discover More

Putting Headers and Footers on Multiple Worksheets

You can easily create headers and footers for multiple worksheets by working with a selection set of the worksheets you ...

Discover More

Adding Last-Row Data to a Page Footer

If you want to modify information that appears in the footer of a worksheet printout, on a page-by-page basis, you can ...

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.

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 6 + 9?

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.