If you print a lot in your Google Sheets workbook, then you must know how to set the print area. This setting will save you a lot of time every day.
The print area in Google Sheets refers to a specific range of cells you can specify to print, excluding the rest of the worksheet.
Let’s say you have multiple data in Google Sheets, but you only want to print data from a specific range of cells. In this case, while printing, you can use the “Selected Range” option to print that specific range.
Steps to Set Print Area in Google Sheets
Unlike other spreadsheet programs like Microsoft Excel, which allow you to set a print area that is recalled every time you print the sheet, Google Sheets does not have a dedicated “set print area” option.
But you can use these simple steps when you want to print a specific range of cell:
- Select the cells or range that you want to print. Go to File > Print or press Ctrl + P (Cmd + P on Mac).
- In the print settings menu, under the “Print” section, you will see an option named “Current Sheet”. Click on the dropdown menu and select “Selected cells” instead (it automatically adjusts to the range you’ve selected).
- Click on “Next” to see a preview of your worksheet, and then click on Print to print the range.
Yes, that’s it. But apart from this, by selecting the cells, you can customize how they occur on the printout, like orientation (portrait or landscape), scaling (fitting to width or height), margins, and more.
Advantages of Setting Print Area: It prints only the needed content, avoiding the waste of paper and ink. It also allows different parts of the sheet to be printed for other purposes, such as reports, presentations, and data analysis.
But there’s one major problem with the Set Print Area Option
Google Sheets does not allow you to set a print area saved with the workbook.
Therefore, every time you want to print a document, you must select cells and adjust print settings, even if you want to print the same range.
Compared with Excel, you can set multiple print areas to print non-adjacent cells or ranges on one page. Google Sheets does not offer a way to do this.
And What If I want to Set the Print Area from a Mobile Phone (Android and iPhone)
I am afraid this feature is not available on the mobile version of Google Sheets.
The Google Sheets mobile app is designed to be a lighter version of the desktop app, aiming to offer basic functionalities for editing and viewing spreadsheets on the go. It does not provide the option to set the print area.
The only way to do this is to copy data from a range of cells that you want to print, paste it into a new sheet, and then print it.