One effective way to control what prints in your Excel worksheet is by managing the print area. If you have previously set a specific print area, Excel will only print the cells within that defined area. Clearing the print area removes this restriction, allowing Excel to print the entire worksheet or the default range containing your data, effectively removing the limitation imposed by the previously set area.
Steps to Clear the Print Area
Follow these simple steps to clear a defined print area in your Excel worksheet:
- Click anywhere on the worksheet for which you want to clear the print area.
- On the Page Layout tab, in the Page Setup group, click Clear Print Area.
This action immediately removes any print area you had previously set for that specific worksheet.
What Happens After Clearing the Print Area?
Once the print area is cleared, Excel reverts to its default printing behavior. This means:
- The entire worksheet will be available for printing.
- Excel will automatically determine the print range based on the cells that contain data or formatting.
- You can now select a new print area if you wish to print a different specific range, or simply print the whole sheet.
Clearing the print area is a quick way to reset your print settings and ensure that Excel considers all relevant cells for your print job, rather than being restricted to a previously defined selection.
