Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 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: Protecting Print Settings.

Protecting Print Settings

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated April 1, 2023)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365


Sharing an Excel workbook with a group also means being involved with different printers, different PCs and different user requirements and expectations. This is nowhere more apparent then when it comes to printing a worksheet. Different users obviously have different PCs and may have different printers, so the printed results can vary from one user to another. In addition, different users may change the print ranges in what is produced from a worksheet.

If you are responsible for a particular worksheet, you may want to somehow protect the various print settings you've established so that they aren't garbled by other users. Perhaps the easiest way to do this is to save your print settings in a macro, and then run that macro every time the workbook is closed. In that way, the settings can be changed back to the "defaults" you specify, without worry that users will mess them all up.

For instance, the following macro shows how you can set all the print settings for a particular print job:

Private Sub Workbook_BeforeClose(Cancel As Boolean)
    With ActiveSheet.PageSetup
        .LeftHeader = ""
        .CenterHeader = ""
        .RightHeader = ""
        .LeftFooter = ""
        .CenterFooter = ""
        .RightFooter = ""
        .LeftMargin = Application.InchesToPoints(1)
        .RightMargin = Application.InchesToPoints(1)
        .TopMargin = Application.InchesToPoints(1)
        .BottomMargin = Application.InchesToPoints(1)
        .HeaderMargin = Application.InchesToPoints(0.5)
        .FooterMargin = Application.InchesToPoints(0.5)
        .PrintHeadings = False
        .PrintGridlines = False
        .PrintComments = xlPrintNoComments
        .CenterHorizontally = False
        .CenterVertically = False
        .Orientation = xlPortrait
        .Draft = False
        .PaperSize = xlPaperLetter
        .FirstPageNumber = xlAutomatic
        .Order = xlDownThenOver
        .BlackAndWhite = False
        .Zoom = False
        .FitToPagesWide = 1
        .FitToPagesTall = 99
        .PrintErrors = xlPrintErrorsDisplayed
        .PrintArea = "MyPrintArea"
        .PrintTitleRows = ""
        .PrintTitleColumns = ""
    End With
End Sub

This macro is an event handler, and it should be saved within the ThisWorkbook object in the VBA Editor. To make the macro work for your particular needs, simply modify the settings to match whatever your requirements are. You can also have the settings apply to a specific worksheet by substituting the name of the worksheet for the ActiveSheet object. Here are two examples:

    With Worksheets(1).PageSetup
    With Worksheets("Report").PageSetup

The first of these would work on the first worksheet in the workbook, while the second would work on the worksheet named "Report".

Of course, when someone else opens your workbook, the macro may be disabled automatically or they may see a notification that there are macros in it. If they choose to disable the macros, then your default-setting macro won't run when the workbook is closed. The solution, of course, is for you to open the workbook, enable the macros, and then close the workbook. This runs the macro and your settings are again restored as you want them.

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the ExcelTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (11599) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Protecting Print Settings.

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

Selecting a Line of Text

Many word processing programs include commands that allow you to select a line of text. Word doesn't, but you can use the ...

Discover More

Finding Fields

Fields allow you to add simple dynamic content to your document. Here's how you can find the fields when you need to know ...

Discover More

Relative Worksheet References when Copying

Copy a formula from one place to another and Excel helpfully adjusts the cell references within the formula. That is, it ...

Discover More

Best-Selling VBA Tutorial for Beginners Take your Excel knowledge to the next level. With a little background in VBA programming, you can go well beyond basic spreadsheets and functions. Use macros to reduce errors, save time, and integrate with other Microsoft applications. Fully updated for the latest version of Office 365. Check out Microsoft 365 Excel VBA Programming For Dummies today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Selecting a Paper Source

When you print a worksheet, you may want to specify that the printout be done on a particular paper tray in a particular ...

Discover More

Printing Row Numbers

Excel displays row numbers on-screen that help you easily see what is in each row. If you want to print these row ...

Discover More

Repeating Rows at the Bottom of a Page

Excel allows you to repeat rows at the top of every page of a printout. If you want to repeat rows at the bottom of every ...

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 9 + 7?

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.