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In Microsoft Excel, scaling a page is one of the crucial tasks. We all work with data in an Excel spreadsheet. And printing those data is also our common task. But, when you have a large Excel worksheet, it is difficult to fit them into one page. In this tutorial, you will learn to print a worksheet to fit a page in Excel. This tutorial will be on point with suitable examples and proper illustrations.
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Download this Practice Workbook.
Why Do We Need Fit to Page While Printing?
Page layout of an Excel worksheet is a vital matter. It decides how the page will look after printing. So, if you have a large Excel spreadsheet, there is a chance it won’t fit one page. It may make you frustrated. The orientation of a dataset is also a key to making it presentable.
We print to fit a page because we need our data presented on a single page. If you split your data into multiple pages, it will be tough to understand. So, fitting a page is a necessary task.
10 Ways to Fit-to-Page and Print in Excel
In the following sections, we will provide you with ten methods to print your worksheet with fit-to-page scaling in Excel. We recommend you learn and apply all these methods to your spreadsheet. It will surely develop your Excel knowledge.
1. Fit to Page before Print Operation Using Page Setup
Now, we use this method too often. When it is a matter of scaling the page, we use this method to fit our page according to our choices.
Take a look at the following screenshot:
We have basically one spreadsheet in our workbook. But, when we try to print that, Excel divides them into two pages. Here, we want them to fit in a single page.
Now, follow these steps to print your worksheet fit to a page in Excel.
📌 Steps
- First, go to the Page Layout tab.
- Then, from the Scale to Fit group, you will see the Width and Height dropdown.
- Now, set the Width and Height to 1 Page. it will do the work.
- Another way you can follow is using the Page Setup group.
- Here, click on the Arrow sign of the Page Setup group.
- Now, select the Fit to radio button and type the value 1 to every field.
- Next, click on OK.
As you can see, this method helped us to print to fit a single page in Excel. Remember, this method will make your data look small. As Excel tries to fit them into one page, it may shrink your data. So, if you have a large Excel spreadsheet, it won’t be a wise option.
Read More: How to Print Full Page in Excel (4 Simple Ways)
2. Fit Page Using Print Preview Screen
Now, this method will do the same as we did earlier. It will help you to print to fit your worksheet on a single page in Excel. This method is also useful for scaling your printed data.
📌 Steps
- At first, click on the File tab.
- Now, click on the option “Print”.
- On the Right-side, you will see the Settings.
- As you can see, there is no scaling here. So, our worksheet will be printed into two pages.
- To fit them into one page, select Fit Sheet on One Page from the dropdown.
As you can see, our worksheet will be printed on a single page using this method.
Read More: How to Display Print Preview with Excel VBA (3 Macros)
3. Adjust Row Height or Column Width to Print
Sometimes, you may not need your columns too wide. In those cases, you can adjust the row height or columns width according to your choice. It will save a lot of paper.
📌 Steps
- First, go to the View tab.
- Then, from the Workbook Views group, click on Page Layout.
Now, from the Page Layout, drag the cursor to adjust columns width or rows height to fit them on one page. Once you have done that, go ahead to print it. Click on the Normal View to go to the original state.
Sometimes, adjusting rows or columns size will lead the data to be shrunk and not displayed. So, to fix that try to wrap the text in Excel.
Read More: How to Set a Row as Print Titles in Excel (4 Methods)
4. Autofit Only Width or Height to Print in Excel
You may have too much data in your columns. So, if you try to print them to fit one page, it will make the dataset smaller. Now, two ways you can follow here:
Way 1: You want to fit your columns to a single page but don’t mind separating the rows into multiple pages. Just keep the Height option blank if you are using the first method. Or you can select the Fit All Columns on One Page option from the setting if you are using method 2.
Way 2: You can do the opposite. That means you can fit all rows on one page and traverse the columns to a separate page. Just keep the Width option blank if you are utilizing the first method. Or you can select the Fit All Rows on One Page option from the setting if you are operating method 2.
Read More: How to Adjust Print Settings in Excel (8 Suitable Tricks)
5. Print after Fit to Page by Deleting or Hiding Rows/Columns
Another reasonable way to print your worksheet fit to a single page is by hiding or deleting columns or rows you don’t want. We don’t recommend deleting the rows as you may need them later. But, you can hide the columns to optimize the spaces on a page.
First, go to the Page Layout tab to find out how many columns you need to fit a single page. Then, select the columns you don’t need. After that, right-click on the mouse. And click on the Hide option from the context menu.
Later you can unhide them to show your full spreadsheet dataset. This method will save a lot of space on your page.
Related Content: How to Print Excel Sheet in A4 Size (4 Ways)
Similar Readings:
- Excel VBA Debug Print: How to Do It?
- How to Print Address Labels in Excel (2 Quick Ways)
- How to Not Print Empty Cells in Excel (3 Simple Methods)
- Excel VBA: How to Set Print Area Dynamically (7 Ways)
- How to Keep Header in Excel When Printing (3 Ways)
6. Fit to Page Changing the Page Orientation and Print
Now, there are two types of orientation that you can select while printing to fit your worksheet on one page.
Portrait: This is the default orientation of Excel.
Landscape: This orientation prints more columns than rows.
To change the arrangement, follow these steps to change the orientation.
📌 Steps
- First, click on the File tab.
- After that, click on Print.
- Here, you will see the Portrait Orientation by default. Just change the orientation to Landscape orientation.
- Also, you can set this from the Page Setup dialog box from the Page Layout tab.
In this way, you can change the orientation of the page. This landscape mode will ensure you print the spreadsheet fit to a page in Excel.
Read More: How to Print Landscape in Excel (3 Easy Methods)
7. Change the Page Margin to Fit to Page
When we print an Excel spreadsheet, every page has some whitespace at the boundaries. It makes sure that the design of your printed pages looks pleasing to the eyes.
When we have a large Excel worksheet, one or two extra columns will get printed on a new page. It can also happen to rows. To fit a worksheet on a page, you have to slightly adjust the margins of the page.
📌 Steps
- At first, go to the Page Layout tab.
- After that, click on Margin.
- Now, you can choose any Margins from here. If you are not satisfied with that, click on Custom Margins.
Here, you can see all the margins of the page. Now, change these values to fit your worksheet to a page for the print.
Read More: How to Change Print Area in Excel (5 Methods)
8. Decrease the Font Size
Another way to fit a spreadsheet to a page is to reduce the font size of some columns. You can resize a few columns using this method. If you have some columns in your dataset that you don’t need, reduce the font size of those. It will come in handy in the future.
9. Print Selected Data Only to Fit Page in Excel
If you have a large Excel worksheet but want to print a selected part, follow this method. This method will rapidly print the area that you selected.
📌 Steps
- First, select the part of your dataset that you want to print.
- Now, click on the File tab.
- After that, click on the Print.
- Here, you will see the default option Print Active Sheets.
- After that, click on the option. Now, select the option Print Selection. It will fit the selection on the page.
- Now, if your selection also doesn’t fit to a page then select Fit Sheet on One Page option along with this.
Finally, when you print the page, it will only print the selection of your dataset that you fitted on a single page.
Read More: How to Print Data with Excel VBA (A Detailed Guideline)
10. Adding Page Breaks to Divide Print Areas
Page breaks basically divide your worksheet into separate areas that will be printed. Excel implements page breaks automatically unless you determine them yourself.
If you have a large Excel worksheet, you won’t be able to fit them into one page. For this reason, you can add page breaks in Excel to allow Excel to understand where to intercept printing on the present page and dribble the rest to the following page.
Excel sets these page breaks relying on your page size, margins, and scale prospects to assure that an optimal number of columns and rows emerge on each page.
You can see this Page Break View from the View tab.
To add a page break follow these steps.
📌 Steps
- First, select the cell where you want to add the page break.
- After that, click on the Page Layout tab.
- Now, from the Page Setup group, click on the Breaks.
- Then, click on Insert Page Break.
It will successfully add a page break. Everything before the page break will fit into one page when you print. The remaining data will be printed on another sheet respectively.
Read More: How to Set Print Area in Excel (5 Methods)
💬 Things to Remember
✎ Change the page orientation to Landscape if you have more columns than rows.
✎ The default page size is ‘Letter (8.5” x 11”)’. If you are using a different size of papers, change it from print settings.
Conclusion
To conclude, I hope this tutorial has provided you with a piece of useful knowledge about print to fit a page in Excel. We recommend you learn and apply all these instructions to your dataset. Download the practice workbook and try these yourself. Also, feel free to give feedback in the comment section. Your valuable feedback keeps us motivated to create tutorials like this.
Don’t forget to check our website Exceldemy.com for various Excel-related problems and solutions.
Keep learning new methods and keep growing!
