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Excel’s Custom Views feature lets you save named worksheet display and print settings, then restore a setup when you need it again. Before you start, check the whole workbook for Excel tables: even one table disables Custom Views throughout that workbook.
What a Custom View saves
A Custom View records a selected set of settings for the worksheet that is active when you create it. Microsoft Support says these can include hidden rows and columns, the selected cell, filter settings, and window settings. You can also include print settings such as page setup, margins, headers and footers, sheet settings, and a specific print area. You can create multiple views for a worksheet and give each a name.
Custom Views are useful when you regularly switch between setups—for example, a detailed working layout and a print-ready layout—without changing those settings by hand each time.
Check for a workbook-wide limitation first
Microsoft states that Custom Views are unavailable if the workbook contains an Excel table on any worksheet. The restriction applies to the workbook, not just the sheet where you want to save a view. If the Custom Views command is unavailable, check every worksheet for tables before troubleshooting anything else. Microsoft’s instructions do not provide a workaround for a workbook containing a table.
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Create and apply a Custom View
- Set up the worksheet. Activate the worksheet you want the view associated with, then arrange its display and print settings as desired. Set filters, hide rows or columns, choose the cell selection, and configure print options before saving.
- Open the Custom Views command. Select View > Workbook Views > Custom Views > Add.
- Name and save the view. Enter a name, choose which settings to include, and confirm.
- Restore the setup later. Select View > Workbook Views > Custom Views, choose the saved view, and select Show.
A saved view is associated with the worksheet that was active when it was created. Microsoft says it can only be applied to that worksheet.
Custom Views and Sheet Views are different
Custom Views save display and print setups for reuse. Sheet Views address a different problem: they let collaborators sort and filter a shared worksheet without disrupting one another’s view. Do not assume that the settings, storage requirements, or collaboration behavior of one feature apply to the other.
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Microsoft says Sheet Views require a workbook stored in OneDrive or SharePoint; a local copy makes them unavailable. Other people sharing the workbook can see created Sheet Views in the menu. In desktop Excel, Microsoft also notes that when someone works in a Sheet View and saves the document, sorts and filters may appear in the Default view for all users, even though the Sheet Views themselves are not affected.
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When a template is a better fit
Use a template when you want a standard starting point for new workbooks or worksheets. Microsoft says templates can preserve cell and sheet formats, page formats and print areas, and workbook calculation and window view options. Custom Views, by contrast, are for switching among named setups within a workbook.
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Which Excel versions are listed for Custom Views?
Microsoft’s Custom Views support page lists Excel for Microsoft 365, Excel 2024, Excel 2021, Excel 2019, and Excel 2016. That page’s applicability line does not list Mac versions, so it does not establish Mac support for Custom Views. Microsoft lists Mac, web, and mobile platforms separately for Sheet Views; those details should not be taken as confirmation of Custom Views support on those platforms.
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