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: Clearing the Print Area.

Clearing the Print Area

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated June 22, 2024)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

In other issues of ExcelTips you learn how you can set a print area within a worksheet. This special area is used to define exactly what range you want printed. At some point you may need to delete the print area. (By "delete" I mean to get rid of the special area designation, not the information contained within that area.)

To clear the print area, follow these steps:

  1. Choose Print Area from the File menu. Excel displays a submenu.
  2. Choose Clear Print Area from the submenu.

Pretty easy, huh? Well, there are other ways you can go about clearing the print area, as well. This is one that I like to use from time to time:

  1. Choose Name from the Insert menu. Excel displays a submenu.
  2. Choose Define from the submenu. Excel displays the Define Name dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

    3. Figure 1. The Define Name dialog box.

  3. Look in the list of defined names for one called Print_Area. This is the definition of your print area. (If you don't see an entry by this name, there is no print area defined in your workbook.)
  4. Select the Print_Area entry and click on Delete. The entry is removed, and your print area is now deleted.
  5. Click on Close to dismiss the dialog box.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2963) 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: Clearing 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. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Protecting Worksheets

Excel allows data protection for particular cells or a whole worksheet in a shared work environment. Here's how to apply ...

Discover More

Blank Lines before Tables

Adding a blank line before your table is easy, but Word's behavior as you attempt to make the insert can depend on where ...

Discover More

Transposing Letters

My fat fingers sometimes result in typing letters in the wrong order. Here's a quick tool that allows you to easily ...

Discover More

Best-Selling VBA Tutorial for Beginners Take your Excel knowledge to the next level. With a little background in VBA programming, you can go well beyond basic spreadsheets and functions. Use macros to reduce errors, save time, and integrate with other Microsoft applications. Fully updated for the latest version of Office 365. Check out Microsoft 365 Excel VBA Programming For Dummies today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

Printing Multiple Selections

Need to print several portions of a worksheet all on a single piece of paper? Here's an easy way you can get what you ...

Discover More

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 a Single Column in Multiple Columns

Ever printed out a worksheet only to find that you have text only at the left side of each page? You can use more of each ...

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.

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

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 7 + 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.

Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2025 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.