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 the Print Area.

Setting the Print Area

by Allen Wyatt
(last updated July 11, 2018)

Excel allows you to define easily the portion of your worksheet that should be printed. The easiest way to set the print area is to follow these steps:

  1. Select the cells you want included in the print area.
  2. Choose Print Area from the File menu. Excel displays a submenu.
  3. On the submenu, choose Set Print Area.

An alternate (and more difficult) way to set the print area is to follow these steps:

  1. Select the worksheet you want to print.
  2. Choose Page Setup from the File menu. Excel displays the Page Setup dialog box.
  3. Make sure the Sheet tab is selected. (See Figure 1.)

    4. Figure 1. The Sheet tab of the Page Setup dialog box.

  4. In the Print Area field enter a range representing what you want printed.
  5. Click on OK.

In step 4 you can enter either an actual cell range (such as A2:G35), or you can enter a name that has been assigned to a range. Excel even allows you to specify multiple parts of the same worksheet that should be printed. To do this, simply enter the ranges (or names) separated by commas, for example, B3:F14,B19:F30.

You can also use the mouse to select the print area. To do this, click first in the Print Area field (this causes the insertion point to appear in the field). Then use the mouse to select the cells that you want included. As you select a range of cells, the address of the range is automatically shown in the Print Area field.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2844) 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 the Print Area.

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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