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.
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.
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Want to add some color to the printing of your page headers and footers? Your options are limited, as disclosed in this tip.
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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:
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