If you are working with a sensitive worksheet, you may wonder if it is possible to prevent a user from actually printing the worksheet. Unfortunately, there is no foolproof way short of making sure the user doesn't have a printer attached to their system.
You can, depending on your version of Excel, customize the program so the print-related commands are removed from the toolbars and menus. You can also replace Excel's built-in print commands with commands that do nothing. However, that doesn't stop people from actually doing a screen print of what is on the computer screen, thereby ending up with the information on a printout. In addition, people could bypass executing the macros by disabling them when the workbook is loaded. Another way around such customizations is for the user to simply copy text from the print-inhibited worksheet and paste it into a new worksheet that has no such customizations. The worksheet could then easily be printed.
You can also try non-Excel solutions, such as using Adobe Acrobat to create a protected PDF file that cannot be printed. However, even then the user could still do a screen print of what they see.
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (3323) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.
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!
Do you have a worksheet from which you need to print only portions of the data available? There are two ways you can ...
Discover MoreHave you ever wanted to do a simple printout, only to find that Excel spit out dozens of pages, and most of them were ...
Discover MoreHyperlinks can be real handy in a workbook, but you may not always want them visible when you send the workbook to the ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)
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.
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2026 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Comments