How To Print A Google Spreadsheet on a Single Page

After spending countless hours editing your data to exacting specifications, the last thing you need is to be consumed by frustration when you go to print it out. Printing Google Sheets is not necessarily a daunting task when using the default settings. The issues tend to arise the moment you need to make adjustments to produce the desired results.

Perhaps, you wish to fit the entire spreadsheet onto a single page. Simple enough. Consolidating all your data into a single, simple to view sheet does make things easier to follow for an audience. Not knowing which adjustments are needed to ensure that all the data is still visible and void of errors can, however, cause confusion in those with less Google Sheets experience.

“What if I don’t want the entire sheet? I only need a small area.”

Below, I cover not only how to print an entire Google Spreadsheet or Workbook, but also just how you can select specific areas and ranges to ensure that you print only the data that you need.

Print the Entire Google Spreadsheet

To print a complete Google Spreadsheet or Workbook:

1. With the spreadsheet open, click File and from the drop-down menu select Print. You can also simultaneously press the CTRL + P keys.
   
   This should open a new window for Print Settings.
   
2. In the right-side column, under “Print”, select if you would like to print the currently displayed sheet (Current sheet) or all sheets (Workbook). There is also the option of Selected cells (A1) which we will get into later.
   
3. The next selection to be made will be if you want the spreadsheets to be printed in a Landscape (horizontal) or Portrait (vertical) format. The Landscape format is wider than it is tall and usually works best for data sheets. Ensure that your printer is capable of printing in a Landscape format as some printers are unable. The Portrait format is preferred if your spreadsheets use more rows than columns.
   
4. The “Scale” drop-down menu has a few different options for the cutoff of the printed pages. For Landscape, you may prefer the Fit to width setting. This setting ensures that the data on the sheet will not exceed the width of the paper.
   
5. Once you’ve selected all settings to your liking, click the NEXT button in the top right corner to select your printer.
   

If you didn’t want to print the entire spreadsheet or workbook, read on for additional walkthroughs below.

Print Select Ranges and Sets

1. To focus on more specific data, you’ll probably only want to print a targeted area of the spreadsheet, instead of the full page or complete workbook. In order to specify areas for printing:
2. While you have the Google Spreadsheet open, highlight the specific cells that you want to print.
3. Head to File and select Print, or press CTRL + P. This will open up the “Print Settings” window.
4. Below the “Print” drop-down, set it to Selected Cells (A1:C12). You should see all cell references that you highlighted previously in the display window. If not, back out and ensure that all cells you want to print are selected.
   

From here you can follow the steps for Print the Entire Google Spreadsheet above, starting at step 3.

 

Adjust Print Settings

With the printing basics covered, we can now look a bit deeper into the customization that you might apply when printing your Google Spreadsheets.

Adjust Margins

You can control the space placed between data and the paper’s edge by adjusting the margins in “Printer Settings”. From the drop-down, choose Wide in order to increase the margins or Narrow to tighten them. This is a great feature that allows you to create space for your data when it is most necessary.

Paper Size

It may only be prudent to make changes to the paper size if your spreadsheets are of the more larger variety. The default is set at Letter (8.5″ x 11″) which is the standard size for most printing paper. In the case of the data covering a larger area, you may want to set the size to Legal or any other standard large format. Just make sure that you have your printer stocked with the proper sized paper.

Formatting

In order to remove the gridlines, which are generally reserved for on-screen viewing, and possibly save yourself a bit of ink:

In the Printer Settings, from the Formatting drop-down menu, uncheck the Show gridlines option. You can always opt to keep them as well if and when necessary.

If you want to highlight on some parts of the data with similar effect, it may be in your best interest to add borders to the data table. Borders can be found on the toolbar of the Google Spreadsheet. The icon is a 2×2 boxed grid as seen here:

Headers & Footers

Like the rest of the spreadsheet adjustments, you can add header and/or footer text to your spreadsheet through the “Printer Settings” window.