Get perfect Excel printouts with these basic settings

Printing spreadsheets can quickly become a frustrating experience if not done correctly. From misaligned columns and incorrect margins to awkward page breaks, a lot can go wrong. However, by using the following key settings in Microsoft Excel, you can always ensure perfect printouts.

1 Review page orientation

Choosing the correct page orientation in Excel – portrait (vertical) or landscape (horizontal) – can save you time and paper by ensuring that your data is presented in the most efficient way possible.

Portrait orientation is ideal for narrow tables with more rows than columns, such as lists of customer names, inventory items, or similar data sets. In contrast, landscape orientation works best for wide tables with multiple columns. This is especially useful for financial statements, data tables with many fields, or any dataset that benefits from a comprehensive one-page view.

Excel’s default page orientation is set to portrait, but you can switch to Landscape if needed Page layout and selection Orientation choice.

2 Set the correct paper size and margins

Excel allows you to print on a variety of paper sizes, from standard letter and legal sizes to custom sizes. Choosing the right size will ensure that the data fits well on the page, preventing annoying clipping or excessive white space. To adjust the paper size in Excel, press Ctrl + P open the Print menu, and then use the drop-down menu under Page Orientation to select the appropriate paper size you are using.

In the Print menu, Excel also offers preset margin options: Normal, Wideand Narrow. If you need more precision, select Custom margins for individual adjustment of the upper, lower, left and right margins. This ensures that your content fits neatly within the page borders and prevents data or charts from being clipped.

3 Adjust the tables to fit the page

With Excel’s scaling options, you can print all relevant information on one page and reduce page breaks. This ensures that your data is easy to read without readers having to flip through multiple pages.

Start by navigating to Page layout tab and find Adapt group. You can edit here Width and Height settings to fit the content on one page width, one page height, or adjust the number of pages according to your needs.

When preparing to print, the Print menu offers additional options via the resize drop-down menu. You can choose to fit the entire sheet on one page, or you can choose to fit all columns or all rows on one page, ensuring that no data is clipped.

4 Enter the print area

The Print Area feature allows you to choose exactly which cells to include in your printout. In this way, the printed table will contain only relevant information.

To set the print area, first highlight the range of cells you want to print. Then go to Page layout tab and select Print Area > Set Print Area. If you need to adjust the print area later, you can easily reset it by selecting it Clear the print area.

5 Hide and unhide cells as needed

Sometimes specifying a specific print area may not be practical due to layout or the need to include additional details elsewhere in the table. In such cases, hiding unnecessary cells in Excel can be an effective solution. To hide cells, select the rows or columns you want to hide, right-click the row or column header, and select Hide.

Excel does not include any hidden cells in its printouts – allowing only basic information to be printed. If you need to refer to the hidden data later, you can easily unhide the cells by double-clicking the thin double line next to the hidden row or column.

6 Use print names for long tables

Print headers allow you to specify specific rows or columns to repeat on each page of a printed sheet. This ensures that the underlying header or labels remain visible throughout the dataset.

For example, if a table contains a header row with critical information, setting that row as the print title will allow it to appear at the top of each printed page. This way, even if your table contains multiple pages, users can easily identify data columns without having to scroll back to the first page.

To set print titles, go to Page layout tab and click on Print subtitles. In the Page Layout window that appears, you can specify the rows or columns you want to repeat. Enter the required lines into Rows to repeat above fields and columns in Columns to repeat on the left field.

7 Print with grid and headings

By default, Excel does not print a grid, which can make data analysis difficult, especially when margins are not used. To change it, all you have to do is go to Page Layout > Sheet Options and check Print field under the grid.

In the same section you will find Print check box under Headings section. You can enable this option to ensure that Excel printouts include row numbers and column letters. These headings can provide basic context for the data being presented, allowing you to easily reference specific data points by correlating them with the appropriate row and column labels.

8 Use page breaks wisely

Page breaks in Excel allow you to control where one printed page ends and the next begins. By inserting manual page breaks, you can ensure that important data appears together on the same page and avoid awkward splits that interfere with readability.

To insert a page break, simply select the row or column where the break should appear, go to Page layout tab and select Breaks follows Insert page break. If you later find that certain breaks are unnecessary, you can easily remove them from the same menu.

9 Print preview

The last step to achieving perfect printouts in Excel is to use the print preview feature. This tool allows you to visualize how your spreadsheet will look on paper before you hit the print button, allowing you to spot any layout issues or formatting errors.

After applying all necessary print settings, press Ctrl + P open the print preview on the right side of the screen.