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: Ampersands in Headers and Footers.

Ampersands in Headers and Footers

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 1, 2020)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


One of the finishing touches often applied to a worksheet is to create headers and footers that print on every page. You may have noticed that some characters won't print in a header or footer. For instance, if you work at a company named Drury & James, and you put the company name in the header or footer, it will print as Drury James, omitting the ampersand.

The reason for this is because the ampersand signals, to Excel, that the next character is "special" and represents a code controlling some aspect of what is printed. To override the effect that the ampersand has, simply use two ampersands, as in Drury && James. When you do, the first ampersand is "swallowed" by Excel and the second one actually prints.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2910) 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: Ampersands in Headers and Footers.

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

Changing a Workbook Password

Excel allows you to apply protection to your workbooks. If you want to later change the passwords associated with that ...

Discover More

Separating Cells Based on Text Color

If the font color used for the data in your worksheet is critical, you may at some time want to move cells that use a ...

Discover More

Creating Individual PDFs by Worksheet

Want to print your worksheets to their own PDF? This can be quite manually intensive, unless you put the macro in this ...

Discover More

Excel Smarts for Beginners! Featuring the friendly and trusted For Dummies style, this popular guide shows beginners how to get up and running with Excel while also helping more experienced users get comfortable with the newest features. Check out Excel 2013 For Dummies today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

Adding Graphics to a Header or Footer

Excel makes it easy to add graphics to a header or footer, as long as you are using at least Excel 2002. Here's the steps ...

Discover More

Adding Ampersands in Headers and Footers

Place an ampersand into the text of a page header or footer, and you might be surprised to see it missing in your ...

Discover More

Creating a Footer

Adding a predefined footer to your worksheets is easy, and it helps convey valuable information when you make a printout. ...

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 seven minus 2?

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.