Learning to set the print area in Google Sheets is an important skill for all spreadsheet users to learn.
When you need to print your file onto paper you want to make sure the data is all formatted properly and easy to read.
There are many things in Google Sheets that users who are coming from Microsoft Excel are already very familiar with, but setting print area is much different between the two programs.
In Google Sheets, you have to set the print area each time you print. There is not a permanent layout setting like in Excel.
In this tutorial, I will show you everything you need to know about setting your print area, how to adjust margins and scale, and view your print preview.
Table of Contents
How to Set the Print Area for a Selected Range in Google Sheets
If you’re trying to print your Google Sheet, but you only want to print certain columns and rows without printing the entire spreadsheet, you will need to learn to set the print area for specific range of cells.
Here is how this is done:
1. The first step is to highlight the range of cells that you want to print
2. Next, in the top menu select File (or you can press CTRL + P for a keyboard shortcut to print)
3. Then, select Print
4. By default your print settings will be set to print the current sheet, you want to change this to the Selected cells option. This will make it so you only print the range you have highlighted
5. Make sure that your print preview on the left-hand side looks acceptable and hit the Next button
6. From here you will have options to select your printer. Select the correct printer and press the Print button
How to Set Print Area to Print Entire Sheet
Sometimes you are going to want to print your entire spreadsheet.
This is actually very easy to do, you just have to make sure that when the file prints that everything shows up correctly in the print preview.
Here’s how it’s done:
1. Select File>Print in the top menu OR press the print button at the top menu, OR press CTRL + P on your keyboard to begin printing
2. In the print settings, make sure the print option is set to print Current sheet this will usually be the default setting. Make sure the print preview shows up how you want it to and select Next
3. From here you will select your printer and hit the blue Print button
How to Adjust Margins and Change Scale
Now if you tried to print the entire sheet with the last method, depending on how your spreadsheet is formatted, things may not look nice.
You may need to adjust the margins and change the scale settings so that your printed document is formatted properly.
Adjusting the Scale Settings
After you have select print on your document you can adjust the scale in the Scale drop-down menu. There are a few options here depending on which you want to adjust your scale
These are the different options for setting your Scale:
- Normal: This will keep your scale to default
- Fit to Width: This will print all your rows on the same page. If you have few rows on your data and want to get them all on the same page, this is great option
- Fit to Height: This will fit all your columns on the same page. If you have few columns in your data, this is a good option
- Fit to Page: This will print everything on one page. If you have a small spreadsheet and it would be readable on a single page, select this option
Changing Margins
Below the scale setting, you will find the option for changing the Margin. Select the one you want from the drop-down menu (or you can set custom margins).
Here are the different options for your Margin settings:
- Normal: This is the default margin setting
- Narrow: If you want to get rid of the white spaces on the side of your printed sheet, this will make the margins narrow. This will fit more data on each page
- Wide: This option creates a wider margin on your page. There will be more white space and you will end up with less data on each printed page
Just above the scale and margin settings you can also select if you want to print portrait or landscape. Try each one and see how it would effect the print preview to see if this is a better option for your data
How to Print Header Rows on Each Page in Google Sheets
The first step to print header rows on every page is to lock the first row in place with freeze panes. This is done in the top menu by selecting View and then selecting Freeze, and 1 Row
2. Then when you print, you should see in your print preview that as scroll through, the headers are on every page. You can print as normal now
How to View Print Preview
To view your print preview in Google Sheets, you just need to select the option to print. The print preview is enabled by default.
On the left-hand side, you will see a preview of how your sheet will print out. As you adjust settings, your preview will change to reflect the adjustments you have made to the print settings.
Closing Thoughts
Being able to define your print area with the different settings we have covered here is an important skill to learn to be able to print your sheets properly.
Try adjusting all of the options we have covered in this guide until you get familiar with what each setting does. This will save you many headaches in the future if you find you are regularly printing your data.
More Google Sheets Tutorials:
How to Set Page Breaks
How to Zoom in or Out