A spreadsheet that looks fine on screen can print out oddly, split across several pages or cut off at the edge. By the end of this page you will know how to check a sheet in Print Preview and adjust it so it prints neatly on paper.
A screen can scroll in every direction, but a sheet of paper cannot, so a wide or long spreadsheet that looks perfectly normal on screen may print across several pages, with columns oddly split apart. It is always worth checking Print Preview before printing anything you care about, rather than discovering the problem after the paper has come out of the printer.
- File, then Print, opens this view
- Check orientation and scaling here
To open it, go to File and click Print, which shows a preview of the pages on the right along with printing settings on the left. Orientation lets you choose between Portrait, taller than it is wide, which suits lists with many rows, and Landscape, wider than it is tall, which suits sheets with many columns. If your sheet is only a little too wide or tall for one page, the Scaling option offers Fit Sheet on One Page, which shrinks the printed content just enough to fit everything onto a single sheet of paper.
Try it yourself
Build or open a sheet with several columns and more rows than fit on one screen.
This gives you something realistic to test the print settings against.
Go to File and click Print to open Print Preview.
This shows you exactly how many pages your sheet will use and where it currently breaks.
Change Orientation from Portrait to Landscape and watch the preview update.
Landscape often fits a wide table much better than the default Portrait setting.
Open the Scaling dropdown and choose Fit Sheet on One Page.
This shrinks the printed layout so everything lands on a single page instead of spilling onto a second one.
Go back to the sheet, select the columns you want to print, go to Page Layout, click Print Area, and choose Set Print Area.
This tells Excel to print only the chosen section of the sheet, ignoring any other data lying around it.
Words people use
A few minutes spent in Print Preview before printing a long or wide sheet almost always saves paper and frustration, and once you know where Orientation, Fit Sheet on One Page and Print Area live, adjusting them becomes second nature.
Check yourself
If you can say yes to each of these, you are ready for the next lesson.
- I can open Print Preview from File, Print.
- I can change orientation and use Fit Sheet on One Page.
- I can set a print area to print only part of a sheet.
- I can make heading rows repeat on every printed page.