Stop Wasting Paper! Excel Print Area: Only Print the Data You Actually Need
The single most frustrating thing about Excel is printing a two-page report and getting five extra pages of blank gridlines. Here is the permanent fix.
Excel sometimes detects stray cell formatting or invisible data far outside your main table, causing it to include those blank pages in your print job. The solution is to explicitly define the **Print Area**, telling Excel exactly which cells should be included.
Step-by-Step: Setting Your Print Area
This process is simple and takes just a few seconds, but you must do it every time you work on a sheet you intend to print.
- **Select the Range:** Click and drag your mouse to highlight all the cells, tables, and charts that you want to appear on the final printout.
- **Navigate to Page Layout:** Click the **Page Layout** tab on the Excel Ribbon.
- **Find Print Area:** In the **Page Setup** group, click the **Print Area** button.
- **Set Print Area:** Select **"Set Print Area"** from the dropdown menu.
Once set, a thin gray line will appear around your selected range, confirming the boundary. Now, when you go to Print Preview (`Ctrl + P` or `Cmd + P`), you will only see the selected area.
Clearing and Managing the Area
You can adjust the Print Area or clear it entirely:
- **To Clear:** Go back to the **Print Area** button and select **"Clear Print Area."**
- **To Add Non-Contiguous Areas:** If you need to print two separate tables (A1:E10 and G1:K10), select the first range, set the Print Area, then select the second range, go back to the Print Area dropdown, and choose **"Add to Print Area."** Excel will print them on separate pages.
Pro Tip: Use Print Titles for Headers
If your table spans multiple pages, you often need the header row (e.g., Row 1) to repeat on every page. Use the **"Print Titles"** option (next to the Print Area button) to set rows or columns that repeat at the top or left of every printed page.
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