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: Copying Print Areas when Copying Worksheets.

Copying Print Areas when Copying Worksheets

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated November 9, 2019)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


Michael often copies worksheets within a workbook. This allows him to maintain the original worksheet and do his work on the newly copied worksheet. The one thing that doesn't copy from the source worksheet to the target worksheet is the print area. Michael would like a way to have the print area set in the newly copied worksheet after the copy is complete.

The answer depends on what you mean when you talk about copying worksheets. Let's say that you copy a worksheet in this manner:

  1. Create a blank worksheet.
  2. Display your source worksheet.
  3. Select all the cells in the worksheet.
  4. Press Ctrl+C to copy the cells to the Clipboard.
  5. Display the target worksheet (the one you created in step 1).
  6. Select a cell.
  7. Press Ctrl+V to paste the cells in the new worksheet.

This copies the contents of the source worksheet to the target worksheet, but it won't copy page settings, such as headers/footers, margins, and print areas. If you want to actually copy these items, you need to make sure you perform your copy using some variation of this procedure:

  1. Right-click on the worksheet tab of the worksheet you want to copy. Excel displays a Context menu.
  2. Choose Move or Copy from the Context menu. Excel displays the Move or Copy dialog box. (See Figure 1.)
  3. Figure 1. The Move or Copy dialog box.

  4. Click the Create a Copy check box.
  5. Choose the worksheet before which you want the copy created.
  6. Click OK.

The resulting copy of your worksheet includes any page settings, including any print areas defined in the worksheet.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (12099) 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: Copying Print Areas when Copying Worksheets.

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

Getting Rid of the Startup Document

When you start Word, it opens a blank document, ready for you to start typing within. If you don't want this blank ...

Discover More

Removing Unused Styles

Got an older document that has a bunch of unused styles defined in it? You can get rid of those styles easily by using ...

Discover More

Resetting Page Setup

If you ever open a workbook and find that your carefully crafted worksheets no longer print on the number of pages you ...

Discover More

Solve Real Business Problems Master business modeling and analysis techniques with Excel and transform data into bottom-line results. This hands-on, scenario-focused guide shows you how to use the latest Excel tools to integrate data from multiple tables. Check out Microsoft Excel Data Analysis and Business Modeling today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

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

Clearing the Print Area

Excel allows you to specify which portions of a worksheet should be printed when you send output to your printer. If you ...

Discover More

Setting the Print Area

Many people, when they print a worksheet, print the entire thing. You don't have to, however. You can specify that Excel ...

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 3 + 9?

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.