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Set the Print Area in Google Sheets (3 Simple Examples)

You can set the print area in Google Sheets rather easily. You can choose to use the options in the print menu that specifically alter the range or simply change the setup. Another way you can set the print area is to pre-select the range before you enter the print menu.

If any of that sound confusing, don’t worry. This article will show you step by step how to set the print area for Google Sheets. Read on to learn more.

How to Set Print Area in Google Sheets for Current Sheet

Usually, you’ll want to print from the desktop version of Google Sheets and only print from the spreadsheet you’re currently working on.

Related: How Print Google Docs with Comments

Here is how to set print area in Google Sheets under such conditions:

  1. Open the spreadsheet you wish to print.
The location of the print menu in Google Sheets
  1. Here, click on File and Print in the drop-down menu. You can do this by clicking on the Printer icon on the main toolbar. You can also use the Ctrl+ P shortcut on your keyboard to open the print menu.
How to select the print area in Google Sheets
  1. In the print menu, you can change some parameters to change the properties for setting print area in Google Sheets. Click on Print and select the Google Sheets print area spreadsheet. Make sure the Paper size is set to the paper you wish to print on.
  2. Once you have set the set print range in Google Sheets, click on Next.
Select the printer you wish to use
  1. This will take you to your browser’s print settings page. Click on Printer and select the printer you wish to use to print the spreadsheet. You can also select the Print to PDF option. You can also change the formatting of the print, where you can change the print’s color and how many copies you wish to create for the spreadsheet.
Print the document
  1. Once your Google Sheet print area is set to your liking, click on the Print button.

Google Sheets Set Print Area for Selected Cells

Most of the time, you would want to print only some of the spreadsheet. You may want to do this if you want to present a small part of your work, or you may wish to share specific sections with your colleagues for discussion. Thankfully, you can change the print range in Google Sheets to select the cells you wish to print.

We are going to use the same dataset from the previous example. However, we only wish to print the first 10 rows in the dataset.

Here are the steps for how to set print area in Google Sheets for only selected cells:

  1. Open the spreadsheet you wish to print.
Set the Print Area in Google Sheets
  1. Select the Google Sheet set print area cells. Make sure the selection is continuous. Otherwise, Google Sheets will only select the latest selected group of cells.
Enter the print menu
  1. Here, click on File and Print in the drop-down menu. You can do this by clicking on the Printer icon on the main toolbar. You can also use the Ctrl+ P shortcut on your keyboard to open the print menu.
Choose which cells to print
  1. In the print menu, click on the Print option and click on the cell address for the Google Sheets print view. You will see the data in the Google spreadsheet print preview change in real-time. Feel free to insert page breaks if the data exceeds the page limit.
  2. Click Next to proceed.
Print the selected range
  1. This will open your browser’s print menu. Select your desired options and then click on Print.

How Do I Set Print Area in Google Sheets on Mobile

One of the best things about using Google Sheets is that it saves your progress on the cloud, meaning you can access your spreadsheets on virtually any device with a browser and an internet connection. If you use Google Sheets on mobile, you can print your spreadsheet, similar to how you can do it on Google Sheets for desktop.

There is one downside as you can not set print area on Google Sheets mobile. However, you can still change the print settings, including the paper size, the specific pages you wish to print, and the color and paper orientation.

The steps discussed here should work on all mobile versions of Google Sheets. However, expect a few minor UI changes based on your device. These steps to show print area Google Sheets were done on an Android 12 device.

Here is how to set the print area in Sheets for mobile:

  1. Open Google Sheets on your device and open the spreadsheet you wish to print.
Share and export a file from Google Sheets mobile
  1. Here, click on the three vertical dots towards the top right corner of the screen. This will open a drop-down menu.
  2. Here, click on the Share & export button.
Adjust print settings on Google Sheets mobile
  1. In the extended menu, click on the Print option. This will open the printer menu on your device.
  2. Click on the downward pointing arrow towards the top part of the screen. This will allow you to change the options for your printed spreadsheet.
Select the printer to print from on Google Sheets mobile
  1. After making the changes, click on the upward-pointing icon to clock the menu.
  2. Click on the printer selection box and click on All printers. There, select the desired printer and then click on Print.

Adjusting Margin and Scale Settings

Every spreadsheet is different, so your spreadsheet may not fit properly on the type of page you wish to print. You will notice this on the print preview screen. Thankfully you can use the scale and margin settings to ensure the spreadsheet fits perfectly on the page.

Here are some of the settings you should be aware of:

Scale

  • Normal – This is the commonly used setting and should be suitable for most cases.
  • Fit to Page – This setting allows you to fit the entire range on a single page. This is useful for smaller ranges.
  • Fit to Width – This option allows you to compress the cells to fit all the columns on a single page. This is best used if your data has a larger number of rows.
  • Fit to Height – This option allows you to compress the cells to fit all the columns on a single page. This is best used if your data has a larger number of columns.

Margins

  • Normal – This is the normally used setting and should be good for most cases.
  • Narrow – This option lets you have more data on a specific page.
  • Wide – This option will create more whitespace towards the edges of the page.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do I Set Print Margins in Google Sheets?

You may fit more information on every piece of paper by reducing the margins on your page. Choose a margin choice under “Margins” inside the print menu. You may select your own margins or let Google Sheets apply wide or narrow margins.

How Do I Get Google Sheets to Not Print the Grid?

You can print the page, tick the “No gridlines” checkbox, and then apply that setting to all sheets to print without gridlines. While actively examining the sheet, you can remove the gridlines, but it has no impact on the printed version.

Wrapping Up How to Set the Print Area in Google Sheets

This guide showed you how to set the print area in Google Sheets using the print menu on desktop devices as well as on mobile. Although, the options on mobile are much less comprehensive so you’re better off printing from a PC when you can. If you found this article useful, check out our related section below to learn even more.

Looking to upgrade your printer? We highly recommend checking out Epson’s extensive line of printers, ranging from compact and efficient home printers to large multifunction printers for your business.

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