Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here: Setting Header/Footer Margins.

Setting Header/Footer Margins

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated March 12, 2022)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


When you create an Excel worksheet, you have the ability to change the margins used when the information in the worksheet is printed. This is done by choosing Page Setup from the File menu, then making adjustments on the Margins tab. The default left and right margin values are .75 inches, unless you change them as described in other issues of ExcelTips.

When you change the left and right margin values, and even if you change the default left and right margin values, there is no way to modify the left and right margins used by Excel to print headers and footers. These are apparently hard-wired to print at .75 inches, regardless of the settings you make within the Page Setup dialog box. They cannot even be changed via VBA.

Further information on this issue can be found in Microsoft's Knowledge Base:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/124751

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2191) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Excel (Excel 2007 and later) here: Setting Header/Footer Margins.

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. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Using a Single Instance of Excel with Two Monitors

Working on a computer system that has multiple monitors can help increase your productivity. If you want to work with ...

Discover More

Adding a Macro to the Quick Access Toolbar

One of the easiest ways to quickly access a macro is to assign it to the Quick Access toolbar. Here's how you can make ...

Discover More

Tools on Developer Tab are Unavailable

Want to add some macros to your workbook? What do you do if you try to add the macros but the program has disabled the tools?

Discover More

Professional Development Guidance! Four world-class developers offer start-to-finish guidance for building powerful, robust, and secure applications with Excel. The authors show how to consistently make the right design decisions and make the most of Excel's powerful features. Check out Professional Excel Development today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

Printing Just the Visible Data

In a large worksheet, you may want to display and print just a portion of the available data. Displaying the desired ...

Discover More

Printing Multiple Worksheet Ranges

Need to print more than one portion of your worksheet? If you use named ranges for the different ranges you want to ...

Discover More

Locking the Print Area

Excel allows you to specify an area of your worksheet that should be printed. Here's how to "lock" that area so it cannot ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 9 + 0?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the menu interface (Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, or Excel 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.