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idarow's avatar
idarow
Copper Contributor
Mar 22, 2020

Unable to remove print area from Excel worksheet

Have tried PAGE LAYOUT>PRINT AREA>CLEAR PRINT AREA to no avail

Previous versions of Excel offered a REMOVE PRINT AREA tool but I couldn't find one in 365

Thank you

  • I found a solution to this and posting in case it helps anyone.  In my case, my page setup was set to 100% of actual size.  Once I changed this to "Fit to 1 page" it allowed me to set a custom print area.  I'm guessing if it's set to 100% it won't allow it to shrink to the area you are trying to print on a page.

    Would be nice for Microsoft to change this setting automatically whey you try to set a custom print area instead of just not working.

     

      • Riny_van_Eekelen's avatar
        Riny_van_Eekelen
        Platinum Contributor

        idarow It's strange that you can not clear the current print area. But, I trust it is like that for you. Or you perhaps have multiple sheets selected? I have read that this can also cause issues with clearing print areas.

         

        In stead of trying to clear a print area that is wrong, you can perhaps select the entire sheet and set that as the new print area. This should over-ride the previous print area.

  • petermihaere's avatar
    petermihaere
    Copper Contributor

    idarow 

    OK... I've been having this problem and there is a specific solution not yet mentioned.

     

    The Print Area is in fact a defined and "named range" in the spreadsheet, so you need to delete the name.

     

    To do this is easy:

    1. Open file you want to remove named print areas
    2. Navigate to the formula tab/ribbon
    3. Select "Name Manager"
    4. Select the print area [or named range] you want to delete
    5. Select "Delete"
    6. All done.

    Hope this helps.

    PJ

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