How to Set Print Area in Excel

You can set a particular cell or a cell range as a Print Area if you wish to print only that selection instead of the entire document. For example, if you’re calculating the sum of total sales, you would only want to print the results. When you set the result cell range as Print Area, you do not have to create an entirely new document to place and print the results.

Once you create a Print Area, you can later add more sections to the existing Print Area. Allocating a section as a Print Area is especially useful if you frequently print values from a particular area in your worksheet.

Step 1: Set a New Print Area

You can add a new Print Area in your worksheet from the page layout tab in the menubar.

1. Launch Excel.
2. Select the range you want to print values from the grid.
3. Head to Page Layout.
4. Click Print Area > Set Print Area.
   

Step 2: Add to an Existing Print Area

You can add a new area to the existing Print Area. However, if the area is not neighboring your existing Print area, Excel prints the added Print Area to a different page.

1. On your workbook, select the cell range.
2. Select Page Layout from the menubar.
3. Click Print Area > Add to Print Area.
   

Step 3: Edit Range in Print Area

If you’ve added a range you did not intend to set as Print Range, you can remove the individual range from the Page Setup Window. Similarly, you can also enter cell ranges to add to the Print Area.

1. Open your worksheet.
2. Head to Page Layout.
3. In the Page Setup section, click the expand icon.
   
4. Select the Sheet tab.
5. Add or delete your range in the Print area.
   

Step 4: Clear Print Area

Excel displays an alert when you set a single cell as a Print Area to confirm your action. You can select the Cancel button from the warning message to clear the Print Area.

You can clear all Print Areas from the Page Layout tab.

1. Head to Page Layout from your worksheet.
2. Select Print Area.
3. Choose Clear Print Area.