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In Excel, the Page Layout tab is where you control how a worksheet is arranged for the page and prepared for printing. It provides access to settings such as orientation, paper size, margins, scaling, print areas, and repeating title rows or columns. The exact tab and controls can vary in other applications, so this definition focuses on Excel.
Where to find page and print settings
Select the Page Layout tab, then use the Page Setup group to open the Page Setup dialog. The tab is the starting point; the dialog brings together detailed controls for the printed page. Microsoft lists these settings for Microsoft 365 and Excel 2024, 2021, 2019, and 2016. Microsoft’s Page Setup guide covers the available options.
What the Page Layout tab controls
- Orientation: Choose portrait or landscape for the page.
- Scaling: Shrink or enlarge worksheet content for printing. The “Fit to” option lets you specify a target number of pages wide and tall.
- Paper size and margins: Set the paper format and the space around the printed content.
- Print area: Select which worksheet range should print.
- Print titles: Repeat selected rows or columns on each printed page.
- Headers, footers, and print options: Add page information and adjust other output settings.
These controls concern page presentation and print output rather than entering or calculating worksheet data. A screen setting does not necessarily determine what prints: for example, gridlines can be visible in the worksheet but are not printed by default. Microsoft explains the print settings in its Page Setup help.
How headers and page numbers work
For worksheet headers and footers, use Insert > Header & Footer. Excel switches to Page Layout view, where you can edit them. They appear in Page Layout view, Print Preview, and on printed pages. Microsoft documents this workflow in its guide to worksheet headers and footers.
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To add page numbers, use the same Insert > Header & Footer route. Page Setup also lets you change the starting page number and the order in which pages are numbered. See Microsoft’s instructions for inserting worksheet page numbers.
Worksheet versus chart headers and footers
For a worksheet, edit headers and footers in Page Layout view. For a chart sheet or chart, use the Page Setup dialog instead. The available workflow depends on what is selected, so a worksheet-view instruction may not apply to a chart.
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The Page Layout tab is Excel’s route to worksheet page formatting and print setup. Use it when you need to control how much content prints, how it fits on paper, or what appears on each printed page.
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