Getting an Excel spreadsheet to print the way that you want can be a little frustrating. There are a lot of different options that affect they way your data appears on the printed page, and some of those options may not be something you realize until you’ve already printed and discovered that something was wrong.
One such option concerns the order in which your spreadsheet pages are printed. By default, Excel will go down, then over. This means that the left side of the spreadsheet will print first then, if there is any overflow from additional columns, those columns will print next. For spreadsheets that are only a few pages, putting the in order manually typically isn’t a problem. But it can become problematic for large files, so continue below and see how you can switch to the “Over, then down” option instead.
Need a blank grid of cells? Find out how to print empty gridlines in Excel by taking advantage of a print area feature.
How to Change from “Down, then over” to “Over, then down” When Printing in Excel
The steps in this article were performed in Microsoft Excel for Office 365, but will work in most other recent versions of Excel as well. Note that this setting only applies to the current spreadsheet. Other Excel files won’t be affected by this change.
If you are having trouble fitting all of your data on one page, then our how to fit all columns on one page in Excel article can show you a solution.
Step 1: Open your file in Excel.
Step 2: Select the Page Layout tab at the top of the window.
Step 3: Click the small Page Setup button at the bottom-left of the Page Setup section in the ribbon.
Step 4: Choose the Sheet tab at the top of the window.
Step 5: Click the Over, then down option, then click the OK button.
Now that you know how to change the print order when printing in Excel for Office 365, you can save yourself from having to manually reorganize the printed file in the future.
Find out how to print your filename at the top of every page in Excel so that less confusion will arise should the pages of the spreadsheet become separated.
Matt Jacobs has been working as an IT consultant for small businesses since receiving his Master’s degree in 2003. While he still does some consulting work, his primary focus now is on creating technology support content for SupportYourTech.com.
His work can be found on many websites and focuses on topics such as Microsoft Office, Apple devices, Android devices, Photoshop, and more.