How to Set Print Area in Excel

This post tells you how to Set Print Area in Excel, how to set up multiple print areas in Excel, how to clear the print area in Excel, and so on. If you want to get back deleted or lost Excel spreadsheets, Word files, or any other files from a Windows computer, USB flash drive, etc. This tip will save you some paper if you need to print your work in Excel. With this, you can set the print area in an Excel worksheet so that only that part of the worksheet is printed. For this, the user can define and create a printing selection area.

Once the printing selection area is chosen, the user will always only get a printout of that range. Users can choose more than one print area in the spreadsheet, and each one will be printed on its own page. You might only want to print a small part of an Excel sheet sometimes. Excel has a feature called “Print Area” that makes it easy to choose the area you want to print. This tutorial will show you how to Set Print Area in Excel, change the print area, clear the print area in Excel, etc.

What is a print area in Excel?

A print area is a range of cells that will be printed out in the end. If you don’t want to print the whole spreadsheet, you can set a print area to only print what you want. When you press Ctrl+P or click the Print button on a sheet with a defined print area, only that area will be printed. You can choose to print more than one part of a worksheet, and each part will be put on its own page. When you save the workbook, the print area is also saved.

You can clear the print area or change it if you change your mind later. Defining a print area gives you more control over how each printed page looks, and you should always set a print area before sending a worksheet to the printer. If your worksheet is bigger than the paper you are using, you might end up with pages that are messy and hard to read because important rows and columns are cut off.

Why is it important to set a print area in Excel?

1. Controlled Printing: You can decide what gets printed on the paper by setting up a specific print area. It lets you print only the information you need, so you don’t waste paper and ink on information you don’t need.
2. Setting a print area will make sure that your printed Excel sheets look neat and professional. It gets rid of the chance that important data or charts will be cut off when they are printed. This makes your printed documents look better.
3. Page Layout: When you set a print area, you can change the page layout and orientation to fit the content neatly on the paper. This helps keep the text easy to read and keeps page breaks from being awkward.
4. Consistency: If you need to print all of the sheets in an Excel workbook, setting a print area makes sure that all of the sheets are the same. This way, each page will have the same information on it.
5. Print Preview: When you define a print area, you can see a preview of how the information will look when it is printed. It helps you find any problems with formatting or strange content before you print.

How to Set Print Area in Excel

For this example, we’ll use a small set of information about employees at a made-up company. The position, division, city, and date of hire are all in the dataset. You could sort the data and print it in many different ways. You might want a list of all the people hired before or after a certain date, all the people in a certain job, or all the people in a certain department. We put employees in order by city and chose to print only those who lived in Atlanta. Here’s how to use the Print Area button to do that.

1. Open the menu ribbon by clicking “Page Layout” in the top menu.
2. Select the cells you want to print by clicking on the first cell and holding down the shift key on your Mac or PC keyboard while clicking the other cells.
3. Click “Print Area” in the menu at the top. Just click “Set Print Area.”
4. To set the print area, press “Enter” or “Return” on your keyboard.

How to check print area in Excel

1. When you click “File” in the top menu bar and then “Print,” you’ll see a preview of what Excel will print. This will help you figure out if you’ve set up the right print area.
2. You can also look at your print area in the “Page Setup” window in the top menu.
3. Click the “Page Setup” button. There are several ways to change the way your page is set up.
4. On the right, click the “Sheet” button.
5. Under the Sheet tab, the first field is “Print Area.” This field shows the area that will be printed, from the top box on the left to the bottom box on the right.
6. You’ll also see a moving line with dots around the part you chose to print.
7. If you want to change the area you want to print, click the icon to the right of the “Print Area” field and then select the cells you want to print. Now you can print that specific by clicking the File tab and choosing “Print” from the drop-down menu.

How to Remove Print Area in Excel

1. Click the Tab for Page Layout.
2. Click the button labeled Print Area.
3. Select Clear Print Area.
4. After clearing the print area, the whole worksheet will print again.

Benefits of setting a print area in Excel

1. Print Specific Data: By defining a print area, you can choose to print only selected cells or a specific range of data. This prevents unnecessary or irrelevant information from being printed, saving paper and ink.
2. Improved Readability: Setting a print area allows you to control how your data appears on paper. You can adjust the layout, fit more content on a single page, and avoid awkward page breaks that split important information.
3. Consistency: Printing a defined area ensures consistency in the output. Regardless of the screen size or zoom level, the selected print area will be printed in the same way, preserving the intended format.
4. Customization: You can customize the print area to include headers, footers, page numbers, and specific print settings. This enables you to add essential information to the printed pages, enhancing their professional appearance.
5. Printing Large Worksheets: For large Excel sheets that extend beyond a single page, setting a print area helps break down the content into manageable sections, making it easier to read and understand.

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