Printing from Google Sheets can be a convenient way to share information and present data. Whether you want to print a selected range, a specific sheet, or the entire spreadsheet, Google Sheets provides several printing options.

However, it’s important to configure the print area correctly before hitting the print button. This is important because, without proper configuration, printed documents may appear poorly formatted, resulting in a waste of resources.

If you’re transitioning from Excel to Google Sheets, it’s important to note that the print area settings are slightly different.

Unlike Excel’s permanent print area, Google Sheets allows you to reconfigure the print area each time you print. This subtle difference can confuse Excel users. However, printing from Google Sheets is still a straightforward process.

In this article, we’ll explore how to set up your print area in Google Sheets to ensure your documents are formatted properly so they can look professional.

Set Print Area to Print Selected Cells in Google Sheets

This is a sample Sales data containing revenue information for different products sold over a period. Assuming we want to print only the records in the first 20 rows, here’s how we’ll do it.

1. Select the ranges you want to print. Here, the range B2:B20 is selected.

2. Open the Print Settings. You can do this in the File menu but using the Ctrl + P shortcut saves time.

4. In the Print settings window, click on the Current sheet dropdown in the Print section and click on Selected cells (B2:E20).

As soon as you select this option, the print preview will display only the selected range.

Click on the NEXT button at the top right-hand corner of the screen. This command will take you to the page where you will select your desired printer after which you will click on the Print button to print out the selected cells.

Set Print Area to Print Everything on a Sheet in Google Sheets

The process for printing an entire sheet is the same as printing select cells.

You simply need to set the print option to Current sheet in the Print settings page to print the entire sheet.

Set Print Area to Print Entire Workbook in Google Sheet

If your spreadsheet contains multiple sheets and you wish to print the entire workbook, it is possible to set the print area to encompass the entire workbook. Follow these steps to set the print area for the entire workbook in Sheets.

1. Open the print setting window using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + P.

2. Select Workbook in the Print option.

3. Select the sheets you want to print in the Selection option. Click APPLY when you’re done.

After this, you can click on the NEXT option to go to the printer selection menu so you can print the entire workbook.

Google Sheet Print Settings

Google Sheets Print settings provide various options to adjust how items are displayed on the printed copy. Some of these options include paper size, page orientation, scale, margins, formatting, and headers and footers.

Paper Size

The Paper size option enables you to select the desired size of paper for printing, with the option to input custom height and width measurements.

When you click on the Paper size dropdown, you will find different paper size options you can select. If none meets your desired need, you can use the Custom size option to set your preferred paper size.

Page Orientation

Page orientation can be used to modify the print layout or the direction in which the sheet is positioned.

The two available options are landscape (horizontal) and portrait (vertical). This setting has no impact on the content of the sheet or document.

Scale

The Scale option permits adjustment of the print size or how the content fits on the paper, preventing small prints.

It has five options – Normal (100%), Fit to width, Fit to height, Fit to page, and Custom number.

The Normal (100%) setting is commonly used and should work for most cases.

If you have a smaller range of data, you can use the Fit to Page setting to fit the entire range on one page.

For larger ranges with more columns, you can use the Fit to Width option to compress the cells and fit all the columns on a single page.

Alternatively, if your data has a larger number of rows, you can use the Fit to Height option to compress the cells and fit all the rows on a single page.

If none of these options is suitable, you can use the Custom number option to set the print scale.

Margin

The Margins option allows for changing the size of the margins, with preset options and the ability to include custom values.

There are four options for setting the margin – Normal, Narrow, Wide, and Custom numbers.

The default margin setting in Google Sheets is Normal, which is suitable for most cases. However, there are two additional options: Narrow and Wide.

The Narrow option compresses the data to fit more on each page, making it a good choice if you need to maximize the amount of data on a page.

The Wide option creates more whitespace around the edges of the page, which can make it easier to read the printed document.

You’re not restricted to these options however as you use the Custom numbers option to set a custom margin.

Formatting

Formatting provides options for displaying or removing grid lines and notes, as well as alignment settings that facilitate the adjustment of the content position, either vertically or horizontally.

Headers and Footers

Headers and Footers allow for customization of header and footer settings, including the inclusion or omission of dates, titles, page numbers, and freezing of row or column headers.

As you adjust any of these settings on the Print settings page, the print preview will update to reflect the changes. This allows you to see how the final printed copy will look before you actually print it.

Print Header Rows on Each Page in Google Sheets

Enabling header rows on each page in Google Sheets can help provide context to the values in the cells.

While it may be straightforward to understand what is being viewed in some cases, having headers on all pages is generally a more optimal experience, particularly if the pages will be examined individually.

To print the header rows on each page, first, you will need to freeze the rows containing the headers. To do this, go to the View menu, select Freeze, and click on 1 row.

After enabling the option to print header rows on each page, you will notice that the frozen rows are repeated on every page in the print preview.

However, you have the option to prevent the frozen rows from repeating in the Headers and footers settings.

Set Print Area Custom Page Breaks in Google Sheets

Google Sheets provides the option to customize the print area for each page, which can be useful for better-organizing data.

By default, Sheets sets a page break every 30 rows, but you can adjust these page breakpoints to create more suitable page layouts for your needs.

To set a custom page break, follow these steps.

1. In the Print settings window, click on the SET CUSTOM PAGE BREAKS option.

2. Move the bottom slider up or down to set the page break to your preference. When you’re done, click on the CONFIRM BREAKS command. Here, the page break is set in the 19th row.

After setting the page break, the sheet is split into two pages according to the defined breakpoints.

The header row will remain at the top of each page because they’re set to repeat at the beginning of every page. This ensures that the context of the data is retained on every page, making it easier to read and understand.

Conclusions

Printing in Google Sheets is made easy because of the various options it provides for managing different aspects of the printing process.

From adjusting page sizes to customizing print areas, Google Sheets allows you to fine-tune the printing process to fit your needs. The ability to repeat headers and prevent frozen rows from repeating goes a long way to adding clarity and context to printed copies.

Furthermore, with the ability to preview changes before printing, you can ensure your data is displayed exactly as intended. By taking advantage of these features, you can create professional-looking printed copies of any spreadsheet with ease.

Have you ever needed to print your Google Sheets? Let me know in the comments!