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: Flipping Landscape Orientation when Printing.

Flipping Landscape Orientation when Printing

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated September 13, 2025)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Excel in Microsoft 365


2

Al asked if there was a way to change the rotation on an Excel worksheet printed in landscape mode. The landscape pages are rotated by automatically by Excel, but he wants to adjust that by rotating an additional 90 degrees. This way it will print correctly for the three-hole paper on which he is printing.

There is nothing intrinsic in Excel that allows you to specify the rotation on printed pages. Also, there is no way to do this from within a macro. Some printers may allow you to control rotation within the printer driver itself, but it is pretty certain that most will not.

The solution may be as simple as rotating the paper in your printer's paper tray by however many degrees you need. (I do this all the time with my printer to get the "holes" on the right side of the printout.) This may not be possible in some printers, however, and it may mess up printing for some of your other applications.

A third-party solution may be the best way to do what you want. For instance, you may want to check out products such as ClickBook, from Blue Squirrel Software.

https://www.bluesquirrel.com/products/clickbook/

This recommendation should not be taken as an endorsement of the software; we have not tested it in any way. The product description indicates it will work with Excel and it will rotate pages. (And, it appears, do a heck of a lot of other things.) Undoubtedly there are other competing products available through a search of the Internet.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (11888) 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: Flipping Landscape Orientation when Printing.

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

Finding and Replacing Text in Comments

Excel allows you to add comments to individual cells in your workbook. Unfortunately, Excel doesn't provide a way to ...

Discover More

Aligning Cells when Importing from CSV

When you import information from a CSV text file, Excel formats the data according to its default settings. Wouldn't it ...

Discover More

Adding Serial Commas in a Sentence

Part of the job of an editor is to apply standards of grammar to text written by someone else. One standard that may need ...

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)

Printing Workbooks in a Folder

This tip presents two techniques you can use to print multiple workbooks all at the same time. Both techniques involve ...

Discover More

Collating Copies

When you print multiple copies of worksheets that require more than one page each, you'll probably want those copies ...

Discover More

Out of Kilter Borders

Borders not printing properly? It could be any one of a number of reasons causing the problem. This tip provides some ...

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 4 + 1?

2025-09-15 09:58:20

DaveS

To extend CADcliff's suggestion, the pdf can be created with individual worksheets oriented as required using a simple macro along the lines of the following:

Sub Printpdf()

Dim SheetArray As Variant
Dim wks As Variant

'define array of worksheets to print
SheetArray = Array("Sheet1", "Sheet2", "Sheet3")

'set orientation of each worksheet (defaults to portrait)
For Each wks In SheetArray
Select Case Sheets(wks).Name
Case "Sheet1", "Sheet3"
Sheets(wks).PageSetup.Orientation = xlLandscape
Case Else
Sheets(wks).PageSetup.Orientation = xlPortrait
End Select
Next

'print to pdf
Sheets(SheetArray).Select
ActiveSheet.ExportAsFixedFormat Type:=xlTypePDF, _
Filename:="C:\Documents\Report.pdf", _
Quality:=xlQualityStandard, _
IncludeDocProperties:=True, _
IgnorePrintAreas:=False

End Sub

Obviously the folder referenced in 'Filename' needs to exist on your PC.


2025-09-13 23:10:29

CADcliff

I might suggest printing the Excel sheet to a PDF output. Then you can rotate the PDF pages before printing the paper copy.


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.