[Solved:] Print Area Is Grayed Out in Excel (2 Easy Solutions)

Get FREE Advanced Excel Exercises with Solutions!

Excel is the most useful tool to deal with massive datasets. We can perform myriads of tasks of multiple dimensions in Excel. While working in Excel, we often need to print the datasheet for our convenience. But sometimes, the print area does not function properly in Excel. Often, the print area is grayed out in Excel. In this article, I will discuss the problem in detail and give 2 easy solutions to this problem.


An Overview of the Problem

This is the datasheet that I am going to use to explain the problem in detail. There are some products and respective sales amounts.

print area in excel is grayed out

When I tried to set the print area, I found out that the print area was grayed.

This is the problem for today’s article.

Reasons:

This may occur due to 2 reasons. They are,

  1. Someone has grouped multiple sheets. For instance, Product and Employee sheets are grouped.

print area in excel is grayed out

  1. Someone saved the file with grouped sheets.

Print Area Is Grayed Out in Excel: 2 Easy Solutions

In this section, I will discuss 2 solutions to the problem. Let’s learn about them step by step.


1. Ungroup Sheets Using Mouse

The first solution is to ungroup the sheets using your mouse. In our problem, we have two sheets that we need to ungroup. Let’s do it step by step.

Steps:

  • Take your cursor on any one of these sheets.
  • Then, right-click your mouse. A menu will pop up.
  • After that, select Ungroup Sheets.

  • Now, you can see the Print Area is active and usable.

print area in excel is grayed out


2. Ungroup Sheets by Selecting Another Sheet

Now, I will show another simple solution. You can also ungroup the sheets by selecting another sheet. Suppose I have another datasheet Area. I have grouped the Product and Employee datasheet and the Area is separate.

I will now ungroup the 1st two sheets using the 3rd one.

Steps:

  • Take your cursor on the Area.
  • Then, select it.
  • Excel will ungroup the Product and Employee.

print area in excel is grayed out

  • Now, you can see the Print Area is active and usable.

print area in excel is grayed out


Things to Remember

  • Print Setup and Print Area options do not function for grouped sheets.
  • You will find the Print Area in the Page Layout.

Download Practice Workbook

Download this workbook and practice while going through this article.


Conclusion

In this article, I have illustrated the problem – the print area is grayed out in Excel – and provided 2 solutions for this problem. I hope it helps everyone. If you have any suggestions, ideas, or feedback, please feel free to comment below.


Related Articles


<< Go Back to Print Area | Page Setup | Print in Excel | Learn Excel

What is ExcelDemy?

ExcelDemy - Learn Excel & Get Excel Solutions Center provides online Excel training , Excel consultancy services , free Excel tutorials, free support , and free Excel Templates for Excel professionals and businesses. Feel free to contact us with your Excel problems.
Akib Bin Rashid
Akib Bin Rashid

AKIB BIN RASHID, a materials and metallurgical engineer, is passionate about delving into Excel and VBA programming. To him, programming is a valuable time-saving tool for managing data, files, and internet-related tasks. Proficient in MS Office, AutoCAD, Excel, and VBA, he goes beyond the fundamentals. Holding a B.Sc in Materials and Metallurgical Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, MD AKIB has transitioned into a content development role. Specializing in creating technical content centred around Excel and... Read Full Bio

2 Comments
  1. Thank You – You are a hero. After many hours YOU have solved my problem.

Leave a reply

Advanced Excel Exercises with Solutions PDF

 

 

ExcelDemy
Logo