How to print an Excel sheet on one page

The fast way: scaling in File > Print

A sales sheet with 13 columns (region, rep, ten months and a total) is a classic case: in portrait it prints the first few columns on page 1 and the rest on page 2. The scaling menu at the bottom of the print settings fixes it in two clicks.

Fit Sheet on One Page shrinks everything to a single page. Fit All Columns on One Page shrinks only until the width fits, which is usually what you want. Fit All Rows on One Page does the same for height. The preview on the right updates as you pick.

Fit only ever shrinks. If the sheet already fits, it stays at 100% and won't be enlarged to fill the page.

1. Press Ctrl+P (or go to File > Print).
2. Under Settings, click the last option, which shows No Scaling.
3. Choose Fit Sheet on One Page, or Fit All Columns on One Page for long lists.
4. Check the preview, then click Print.

Scale to Fit on the Page Layout tab

The same setting lives on the ribbon, where you can see the zoom it applies. In the Scale to Fit group, set Width to 1 page and leave Height on Automatic for one page wide. Set both to 1 page for one page total.

The Scale box then shows the percentage Excel chose. Watch it: if it says 45%, the text will be hard to read. The setting is saved with the sheet, so the next person who prints gets the same layout. To change the percentage by hand, set Width and Height back to Automatic first; the Scale box is grayed out while they're set.

1. Go to Page Layout > Scale to Fit.
2. Set Width to 1 page.
3. Leave Height on Automatic (or set it to 1 page).
4. Check the Scale percentage, then print.

Make it fit without tiny text

Shrinking is the last resort. Try these first, then let Fit do the rest. Each one gives you back size you'd otherwise lose to scaling.

If an extra blank page prints, press Ctrl+End. Excel jumps to the last cell it thinks is used. If that's far beyond your data, a stray space or old formatting is there: select those empty rows or columns, right-click > Delete, and save. Excel then forgets the extra area.

1. Landscape: Page Layout > Orientation > Landscape. Wide sheets often fit at 100% this way.
2. Narrow margins: Page Layout > Margins > Narrow.
3. Print only what matters: select the range, then Page Layout > Print Area > Set Print Area. Clear Print Area removes it.
4. Hide notes or helper columns you don't need on paper; hidden columns don't print.
5. Narrow wide columns, or turn on Wrap Text for long headers.

Page Break Preview: drag the page edges

View > Page Break Preview shows the pages as blue outlines with "Page 1", "Page 2" watermarks. Dashed blue lines are breaks Excel chose. Solid blue lines are breaks you set, or the edge of the print area.

Drag a dashed vertical break to the right edge of your data and Excel lowers the scale so everything up to that line fits on one page. Dragging is the quickest way to say "this much, on one page" when you can see exactly what you want. Go back with View > Normal.

If old manual breaks keep splitting pages, use Page Layout > Breaks > Reset All Page Breaks. Excel also ignores manual page breaks while Fit to scaling is on.

Headers on every page, gridlines and page numbers

When the rows continue onto page 2, the header row doesn't come with them unless you set Print Titles. Freeze Panes doesn't help here; it only affects the screen.

Gridlines don't print by default, which makes wide number tables hard to follow. Tick Page Layout > Sheet Options > Gridlines > Print. Headings > Print adds the row numbers and column letters, useful when someone will mark up a printout and refer back to cells.

1. Go to Page Layout > Print Titles.
2. Click in Rows to repeat at top and select row 1 (it fills in $1:$1).
3. Optionally click in Columns to repeat at left and select columns A:B so region and rep appear on every page.
4. On the Header/Footer tab, choose Page 1 of ? from the Footer list.
5. On the Margins tab, tick Center on page: Horizontally for a neater page, then click OK.

On a Mac, in Excel for the web, and to PDF

On a Mac, the Page Layout tab has the same Width, Height and Scale boxes, and File > Print has a Scaling option where you can choose Fit to 1 page wide.

In Excel for the web, go to File > Print, choose what to print, and under Scaling pick Fit Sheet on One Page, Fit All Columns on One Page or Fit All Rows on One Page.

A PDF follows the same page settings. Set the scaling first, then use File > Save As (or Export) and choose PDF, or print to a PDF printer. If the PDF still splits, the print scaling wasn't saved on that sheet: each sheet has its own page setup.