What Is Page Setup In Excel?
The Page Setup in Excel is a group of features in the Page Layout tab. It enables users to manage and decide how the worksheet content will appear when printed on paper. Users can use the Page Setup options to modify settings such as the margins, orientation, print area, and print titles to make the printed data more presentable.
For example, the below table contains a set of Page Setup parameters and their settings. The requirement is to print the active worksheet content according to the specified Page Setup parameters’ settings.
In such a scenario, we can use the Page Setup options from the Page Layout tab to apply the required settings for the Page Setup in Excel for printing.
When we click the Print Preview option, we can preview how the worksheet data will appear when printed, as shown below.
Further, if we wish to make additional modifications, we can change Page Setup in Excel using the other options in the Page Setup window.
Table of contents
Key Takeaways
- The Page Setup in Excel is a set of options available in the Page Layout tab. The feature helps control the worksheet content appearance when we print it.
- Users can access the Page Setup features to update page settings, including margins, orientation, background, and page breaks, according to their requirements.
- In the Page Layout tab, we can select the Page Setup options from the Page Setup, Scale to Fit, and Sheet Options groups.
- We can click the Page Setup dialog box selectors in the Page Layout tab to open the Page Setup window and select more page settings.
Where is Page Setup In Excel?
We can create Page Setup in Excel using two methods, namely:
- Access from the Page Layout tab in the Toolbar.
- Use the Page Setup in Excel shortcut key.
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Method #1 – Access from the Page Layout tab in the Toolbar
In the active worksheet, go to the Page Layout tab and click the required page setting options, one by one, from the Page Setup, Scale to Fit, and Sheet Options groups.
But if we wish to select all the required page settings in one go, click Page Layout à Page Setup dialog box selector (we may click any of the highlighted dialog box selectors).
The Page Setup window appears. We can now click different tabs, apply and change Page Setup in Excel according to our requirements, as demonstrated below.
Finally, we can click Print Preview after applying the changes to check how the printed pages will appear.
But if we know how the printed data will appear on paper, click Print. And if we wish to retain the selected Page Setup settings and print later, click OK.
Method #2 – Use the Page Setup in Excel shortcut key
With the current worksheet open, press Alt + P and then press the S and P keys, one after the other.
The above shortcut keys will open the Page Setup window shown in #Method 1. And the remaining process to apply the Page Setup settings is the same as that explained in #Method 1.
On the other hand, we can press Alt + P and then the alphabet, shown in the above image, corresponding to the respective Page Setup setting we wish to select.
#Basic Example
The below table shows a set of employees, their designations, and annual salary details.
Suppose the requirement is to print the above employee data, with the Page Setup settings being:
The steps to apply the Page Setup in Excel for printing are,
1: In the current worksheet, click Page Layout – Orientation – Landscape.
2: Next, click Page Layout – Size, and select the required A3 Page Setup in Excel.
3: Go to Page Layout – Width, and Page Layout – Height, to set the Scale to fit.
Alternatively, click the Page Layout – Page Setup dialog box selector in the current worksheet to open the Page Setup window.
Next, select the specified Page Setup settings from the Page and Margins tabs in the Page Setup window.
In the Page tab, we must click the radio button for Landscape to set it as the Orientation. Next, click the Fit to radio button and select the pages and tall values using the respective drop-down buttons.
And then, set the required Paper size to achieve an A3 Page Setup in Excel and Print quality options using the respective drop-down buttons.
Next, go to the Margins tab and check the boxes against the two options in the Center on page section.
4: Click Print Preview to view how the worksheet data will appear when printed on paper.
Once we check the preview, click the Print option in the above window to print the worksheet data.
However, if we feel that the applied Page Setup settings do not meet our requirements and wish to make changes, we can click the icon in the top-left corner of the above window to return to the worksheet. And then, follow step 1 to open the Page Setup window and select the best-suitable settings.
We can also use the options, in the Settings section, in the above window to modify the Page Setup.
Examples
The following examples will help us effectively use the Page Setup in Excel.
Example #1
The table below shows a list of items and their order details. The requirement is to print the data, including the row and column headings.
The steps to apply the required Page Setup settings are,
1: Go to Page Layout – Page Setup dialog box selector in the active worksheet to access the Page Setup window.
2: In the Page tab, select Orientation as Landscape.
3: Go to the Sheet tab, and check the option to show the “Row and column headings” in the Print section.
4: Click Print Preview to check how the printed data will appear on paper.
The above Page Setup settings will ensure the data we print includes the row and column headings.
Example #2
The following table contains the sales target data of sales representatives in a firm.
Suppose we must print the above data, with the first column appearing on all the printed pages. Also, the printed sheets should show the page numbers at the footer.
The steps to apply the following Page Setup settings in Excel are,
1: With the active sheet open, press Alt + P, followed by the letters S and P, to open the Page Setup window.
And in the Page tab, set the Orientation as Landscape.
2: Set the Footer field in the Header/Footer tab, as depicted below.
3: Enter the address of the column we wish to repeat on the left in all the printed pages in the second field of the Print titles section in the Sheet tab.
We can also go to Page Layout – Print Titles.
The above step will open the Page Setup window, where we can access the Print titles option in the Sheet tab, as explained above.
4: Click Print Preview to review the preview.
The above print preview shows the worksheet data on two pages. And each page shows the column A content and the page number in the footer.
Example #3
The below table shows a sample stock market data, and the requirement is to adjust the margins in Excel.
The steps to set the desired margin settings using the Page Setup in Excel are,
1: In the active sheet, select Page Layout – Margins – Custom Margins to open the Margins tab in the Page Setup window.
[Alternatively, we can click Page Layout – Page Setup dialog box selector to open the Page Setup window. Otherwise, we can apply the shortcut keys Alt + P and S and P to open the window. And then, we can click the Margins tab.
2: Set the required margin settings using the corresponding toggle button and click OK.
We can click the Page Layout icon on the bottom-right corner of the worksheet to view the updated margin settings.
The top and left margin values show the updated margin settings.
Uses Of Page Setup In Excel
The uses of the Page Setup in Excel are given below. This feature helps users,
- Set customized margins.
- Select the required orientation.
- Change the paper size.
- Set the required print area.
- Update the page breaks in excel.
- Set a background image in the active worksheet.
- Select the rows and columns to repeat on all printed pages.
- Show the header and footer in excel on a page.
- Display the row and column headings.
Important Things To Note
- The shortcut to apply the Page Setup in Excel is Alt + P and then S and P, one after the other.
- Ensure to check the print preview to verify the set Page Setup settings before printing the worksheet data.
- Once we select the required Page Setup options in the Page Setup window, click Print in the window to print the worksheet data. Otherwise, we can click OK to save the settings for future use.
Frequently Asked Questions
We can select an area on the worksheet to print using the Page Setup option, Print Area, in the Page Layout tab.
For example, the below table contains an ad program’s statistics. Suppose the requirement is to print the cell range A1:D5 data.
The steps to print the required area are as follows:
Step 1: Select the cell range A1:D5, which represents the area in the worksheet to print.
Step 2: Click Page Layout – Print Area – Set Print Area.
The above action will create a name, Print_Area, for the chosen cell range.
Step 3: Click the Page Break Preview icon in the worksheet’s bottom-right corner to view the spreadsheet’s print area.
The entire sheet appears greyed out, except the printable area, the cell range A1:D5.
We can use the View tab to apply Page Setup settings in Excel.
The Page Setup in Excel is not working because we did not install a printer driver. We must have a minimum of one printer driver installed on our computer to ensure we can apply the Page Setup settings in Excel.
Download Template
This article must help understand the Page Setup in Excel, with its formula and examples. We can download the template here to use it instantly.
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