Positioning Headers and Footers

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 13, 2022)

Besides allowing you to control what appears in a header or footer, Excel allows you to also control the distance at which they appear relative to the top or bottom of the paper on which you print your spreadsheet. To position the header or footer, follow these steps:

  1. Select Page Setup from the File menu. This displays the Page Setup dialog box.
  2. Make sure the Margins tab is selected. (See Figure 1.)

    3. Figure 1. The Margins tab of the Page Setup dialog box.

  3. Use the Header and Footer controls to specify the distance from the edge of the paper at which the header or footer should appear.
  4. Click on OK.

Make sure that when you specify a position for the header or footer that the value is smaller than what you have set for top or bottom margins. If the Header or Footer values are larger than the margins, your header or footer could overlap with data printed on the page.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2636) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

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. ...

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