How to Insert Page Breaks in Excel
If you want to print a spreadsheet, Microsoft Excel uses page breaks (separators that divide a sheet into separate pages for printing) to make sure that each new page is separated from the previous one. You can adjust these page breaks to fit your specific paper size, margin settings, and scale options. You can also manually insert page breaks where you want them in the worksheet.
If your data table contains subtotals and you want to print them all on a single page, it can be difficult to fit all of these in without cutting off some of the text. However, you can easily get around this problem by setting your sheet to use automatic page breaks when it prints.
For example, you can set a page break to show the subtotal on a new page each time it changes in a column. This is a useful feature if you often change values in a certain column and you want to make sure that the next page only displays the latest value.
To insert a page break manually, first select the cell or rows that contain the cells with the data you want to split. Then, click the Page Layout tab and click the Breaks button in the Page Setup group.
When you click the Breaks button, a solid line shows where the page break will begin in the printed copy. If you want to insert a dashed line, you can click the Breaks button again and select the option that appears in the dialog box.
Alternatively, you can also use the Page Break Preview feature to see where page breaks will appear on a sheet before you print it. This feature is a good idea if you have large spreadsheets that you frequently print.
In the Page Break Preview mode, you can see blue lines that represent the page breaks on your sheet. You can also drag these lines to move them.
You can also double-click on a blue line to insert a new page break. This is especially useful if you’re changing the number of pages in a sheet or you’re making other changes to the layout of the page.
Once you’re in Page Break Preview mode, you can use the arrow keys to move the page breaks. You can also use the Delete key to remove an individual page break.
If you’re not sure where a page break will be, you can also display the Page Break Preview Button image on the Excel status bar to see what it will look like on your sheet. If you don’t want to see this again, make sure that the Do not show this dialog again check box is checked.
The dotted and bold gray page break line that you saw in the Page Break Preview mode will continue to show on your worksheet when you return to Normal view. To remove this line, you can click the File tab, click Options, and then click the Advanced category and scroll down to the Display options for this worksheet section.
