Selective Headers and Footers

One of the long-time complaints about Excel is that it doesn't have a very robust method of creating and managing headers and footers. Consider the following scenario: You want to print your worksheet, but only have page numbers beginning on the second page.

There is no intrinsic method in Excel to handle this situation. There are some workarounds; for instance, you could put your first page on one worksheet (without headers or footers) and the subsequent pages on a different worksheet (which includes headers and footers). You could then print the two worksheets in one pass, and effectively achieve your goal.

If you prefer, you can create a macro that prints your worksheet as you desire. The following macro, GoodPrint, will print the first page of a worksheet without headers or footers, and then all subsequent pages as normal.

Sub GoodPrint()
    Dim hlft As String
    Dim hctr As String
    Dim hrgt As String
    Dim flft As String
    Dim fctr As String
    Dim frgt As String

    'save current header
    hlft = ActiveSheet.PageSetup.LeftHeader
    hctr = ActiveSheet.PageSetup.CenterHeader
    hrgt = ActiveSheet.PageSetup.RightHeader

    'save current footer
    flft = ActiveSheet.PageSetup.LeftFooter
    fctr = ActiveSheet.PageSetup.CenterFooter
    frgt = ActiveSheet.PageSetup.RightFooter

    'remove header and footer
    With ActiveSheet.PageSetup
        .CenterHeader = ""
        .RightHeader = ""
        .LeftHeader = ""
        .CenterFooter = ""
        .RightFooter = ""
        .LeftFooter = ""
    End With

    'print page one
    ActiveSheet.PrintOut 1, 1

    'restore header and footer
    With ActiveSheet.PageSetup
        .LeftHeader = hlft
        .CenterHeader = hctr
        .RightHeader = hrgt
        .LeftFooter = flft
        .CenterFooter = fctr
        .RightFooter = frgt
    End With

    'print the rest of the pages
    ActiveSheet.PrintOut 2
End Sub

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (12101) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Selective Headers and Footers.