Chris notes that Excel supports both Normal and Page Layout views. He wonders if there is a way to disable Page Layout view so the user of a workbook cannot select it.
Excel makes these two views (Normal and Page Layout) available from the View tab of the ribbon. One might think that the solution is to simply modify the user interface so that the Page Layout tool is no longer available on the ribbon. This, unfortunately, is easier said than done.
If you are using Excel 2007, the user interface is notoriously hard to change. It requires writing XML code and making sure that the code is executed every time the workbook is opened. If you like notoriously hard things, you can find a bit about how to start at this page:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa338202.aspx
If you are using Excel 2010 or a later version, then modifying the user interface is a bit easier. You can do it by following these steps:
Figure 1. The Excel Options dialog box.
That's it. Now, if you go look at the View tab, you'll notice that the user can no longer switch to Page Layout view. In fact, the user cannot pick any view other than whatever view you happen to be in at the current time. This change affects only the current machine, for all workbooks, and cannot be tied to any particular workbook. (The reason is that while you can modify the ribbons a bit in Excel 2010, you cannot modify them in macros. It's a big pain and you need to go back to writing XML code like in Excel 2007.)
Perhaps a better solution is to create a small macro that will make sure that the worksheet is always being displayed in Normal view. This is easy to do; just right-click on a worksheet tab and choose View Code from the resulting Context menu. In the code window, enter the following:
Private Sub Worksheet_SelectionChange(ByVal Target As Range) ActiveWindow.View = xlNormalView End Sub
This code causes Excel to switch to Normal view every time someone changes what is selected on the screen. Someone could use the tools on the View tab of the ribbon to switch to Page Layout view, but as soon as they select a different cell the macro kicks in and switches back to Normal view.
Note:
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2022-01-01 14:50:29
John Mann
@J. Woollwey
Thanks for that. I had searched all over after orriginally add my comment to the original tip, then when it popped recently I tried again, but somehow managed to miss those steps - maybe searching for the wrong thing or in the wrong place.
While it wasn't a major deal for me, I do like to keep things as installed plus my mods, rather than minus my mods. Most of what I use from the view tab is accessible elswhere - commands add to my bloated QUAT or already on the status bar at the bottom. From time to time I do like to look around at the things I'm not using regularly - sometimes that serves to point out something useful which my 80yr old brain had forgoten.
Thanks again, and a happy new year.
2022-01-01 11:05:48
J. Woolley
@John Mann
1. Click the File tab, then click Options to open the Excel Options dialog box.
2. At the left side of the dialog box click Customize Ribbon (see Figure 1 below) .
3. In the right column of the dialog box, expand the View tab, then select (but don't expand) Sheet View.
4. In the left column of the dialog box, pick "Choose commands from: Main Tabs," then expand the View tab.
5. Select Workbook Views, then click the Add button.
6. Click OK.
Figure 1.
2021-12-31 14:24:26
John Mann
I'm still wondering if anyone knows how to reversed this tip. After removing the "Workbook Views" option from the "View" menu o fthe tab, I"ve stil not found a way to put it back.
I'm using Excel 2020 in Windows 10. I prefer modifying my ribon or QUAT by adding stuff, rather than removing things.
Thanks for any sugestions.
2021-12-05 13:27:38
Kenneth B Weatherford
When I try to create a header row in Excel and click on the Print Titles from Page Setup, I get a popup for printers. I don't get the A-Z sort to set up header row.
2019-04-27 18:49:17
Williams
How can I re-enable a previously disabled page layout view in excel 2013?
2017-01-22 11:08:55
John Mann
Further - how do I UNDO the removal after experimenting with this tip?
2017-01-22 11:00:53
John Mann
Disabling the views option in the ribbon doesn't disable the three little view icons on the status bar just left of the zoom control at the right hand end. I suspect many users would tend to use those to change to page layout rather than squidging around in the ribbon.
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