Microsoft Excel is widely used across various fields and professions for organizing and analyzing data. One key feature in Excel is the ability to print spreadsheets. However, it can be frustrating when you have a large amount of data, and your printout includes pages of unnecessary information. Fortunately, you can easily limit what gets printed using the print area feature. In this article, we will discuss how to set a print area in Excel.

Step 1: Open the Workbook

Open the Excel workbook that you want to set a print area.

Step 2: Select the Cells to Print

Select the cells that you want to include in your printout. You can do this by clicking and dragging your cursor over the cells, or you can press “Ctrl + A” to select all cells in the sheet. Alternatively, if you have a named range, you can select it by clicking the drop-down arrow next to the Name Box in the top left corner of Excel.

Step 3: Click on the Page Layout Tab

Click on “Page Layout” tab to view the options available in that tab.

Step 4: Set the Print Area

In the “Page Layout” tab, navigate to the “Page Setup” section, and click on the “Print Area” drop-down arrow. This will reveal a few options, one of which is “Set Print Area.” Clicking on this will make the selected cells the print area.

You may also use the keyboard shortcut “Ctrl+Shift+P” to bring up the Print Area dialog box. Within this dialog box, you can make changes such as adding or removing cells from the print area.

Step 5: Preview Before Printing

It is always essential to view the document’s print preview before printing to ensure that everything is laid out correctly. To do this, navigate to the “View” tab and then click on the “Print Layout” view.

Step 6: Print

Finally, navigate back to the “Page Layout” tab and click on the “Print” button to start printing the document. Ensure that you have set the printer settings and paper size correctly before printing.

Setting a print area is a more efficient way of printing an Excel worksheet than printing the entire workbook. By following these steps, you can set a print area of your choice and have a printout that exactly fits your preferences. Additionally, setting a print area is useful for larger spreadsheets with a lot of data that would otherwise overflow onto additional pages.