Centering Your Worksheet

Summary: Got just a small amount of worksheet data to print out? It might look better on the printed page if you center it. Excel makes it easy, both vertically and horizontally. (This tip works with Microsoft Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, Excel 2003, and Excel 2007.)

If you are working with smaller worksheets, they can look odd when printed. Why? Because Excel normally prints your worksheet data at the upper-left corner of a piece of paper. If the worksheet data is small enough, the placement of the data on the printed sheet can detract from what you are trying to convey.

To help offset this problem, Excel provides a way you can easily center your printed information. You can center the data horizontally, vertically, or both. Follow these steps:

Display the Page Setup dialog box. (In Excel 2007 display the Page Layout tab of the ribbon and click the small icon at the bottom-right of the Page Setup group. In earlier versions of Excel choose File | Page Setup.)
Make sure the Margins tab is selected. (Click here to see a related figure.)
Select the Horizontally check box if you want the information centered left-to-right between the margins of the page.
Select the Vertically check box if you want the information centered top-to-bottom between the margins of the page.
Click on OK.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2843) applies to Microsoft Excel versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

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Centering Your Worksheet