Excel Print All Pages: Full Workbook Guide

Updated 6 November 2026 · Standard formula, shown below

Yes, you can print all pages in an Excel workbook in one go. The default setting already prints the entire active worksheet, but to print every sheet in the workbook, you need to change the print setting from “Print Active Sheets” to “Print Entire Workbook.” This guide shows you exactly how to do it, plus how to control page order, avoid blank pages, and fix common printing problems.

How to Print an Entire Workbook

Printing every sheet in a workbook is a two-click change in the Print dialog. Here’s the step-by-step for Excel 2013 through Excel 365 (the same steps work in Excel for Mac with slightly different wording):

Open the workbook you want to print.
Press Ctrl + P (Windows) or Cmd + P (Mac) to open the Print pane.
Under the Settings section, find the dropdown that currently says Print Active Sheets.
Click that dropdown and select Print Entire Workbook.
Check the preview on the right—you’ll see page numbers for each sheet (e.g., “1 of 12”).
Click the big Print button.

That’s it. Excel will send every sheet that has content to the printer, in the order the tabs appear at the bottom of the window. Hidden sheets are not printed unless you unhide them first.

What “Print Entire Workbook” Actually Prints

It’s important to understand what Excel includes when you choose this option. It prints:

All visible worksheets, regardless of whether they have data or are blank.
Each sheet’s used range (cells that contain any formatting, values, or formulas).
Page breaks as defined by your current print area and page setup.

It does not print:

Hidden sheets (you must unhide them manually).
Very hidden sheets (those set via VBA with xlSheetVeryHidden).
Charts or objects that are placed on hidden sheets.

If a sheet is completely blank (no formatting, no values), Excel may skip it in some versions, but a sheet with a single formatted cell will print as a blank page. To avoid this, clear unused cells or set a print area.

How to Print Only Some Sheets

Often you don’t want the whole workbook—just a few specific tabs. There are two easy ways:

Select multiple tabs: Click the first tab, hold Ctrl and click other tabs (or hold Shift to select a contiguous range). Then go to File > Print. The dropdown will now say Print Active Sheets, and it will print only the selected tabs.
Use a print area: Highlight the range you want on each sheet, go to Page Layout > Print Area > Set Print Area. Then when you print the entire workbook, only those ranges print.

The selected-tab method is handy when you have a 20-sheet workbook but only need 3 sheets for a meeting.

Controlling Page Order and Orientation

When you print an entire workbook, each sheet prints independently. That means:

Page numbers restart at 1 for each sheet (unless you set “Continue numbering from previous sheet” in Page Setup).
Orientation (portrait/landscape) is per sheet, not per workbook.
Margins, headers, and footers are also per sheet.

To set consistent settings across all sheets, select all tabs first (right-click a tab > Select All Sheets), then go to Page Layout and adjust orientation, margins, and print titles. This applies the changes to every selected sheet at once.

If you want page numbers to run continuously across sheets (e.g., page 5 of a 20-page workbook), you need to set each sheet’s footer to start at a specific number. That’s done in Page Setup > Header/Footer > Custom Footer, and it requires manual setup per sheet.

Common Problems and Fixes

Here are the most frequent issues people hit when printing a whole workbook, and how to solve them:

Blank pages appear. This usually happens when a sheet has a stray formatted cell far from the data. Select the entire sheet (Ctrl+A), clear all formatting (Home > Clear > Clear All), then set a print area.
Columns are cut off. Go to Page Layout > Scale to Fit and set the width to “1 page.” This shrinks the content to fit horizontally.
Only one sheet prints. Check that you selected “Print Entire Workbook”—the setting resets to “Active Sheets” every time you close Excel.
Hidden sheets don’t print. Right-click any tab > Unhide, select the sheet, and repeat for each hidden sheet.
Print preview shows “0 pages” or nothing. This means the sheets are blank or the print area is empty. Verify there is data on the sheets.

If the print preview looks correct but the physical print is wrong, try exporting to PDF first (File > Save As > PDF). That gives you a reliable file to check before wasting paper.

Printing a Whole Workbook to PDF

Instead of sending 50 sheets to a printer, many people save the workbook as a PDF. The steps are the same:

Go to File > Save As (or Export in newer Excel).
Choose PDF as the file type.
Click Options, and under “Publish what,” select Entire workbook.
Click OK, then Save.

This creates a single PDF with all sheets in order. It’s the best way to share a full workbook with someone who doesn’t have Excel.

Costs and Limits

Printing an entire workbook has no special cost in Excel itself—it’s a built-in feature. The real costs are paper and ink, which can add up if you have many sheets. To estimate, check the print preview: it shows the total page count at the bottom left. If that number is huge, consider printing only the essential sheets or using a PDF instead.

There’s also a practical limit: Excel can handle up to 1,048,576 rows and 16,384 columns per sheet, but printing a sheet with millions of rows will produce tens of thousands of pages. In practice, you’ll want to filter or summarize data before printing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does Excel only print the first page?

This happens when the print area is set to a single cell or a small range. Go to Page Layout > Print Area > Clear Print Area, then try again. Also check that the sheet isn’t scaled to “Fit to 1 page”—that shrinks everything to one page, which may look like only one page prints.

Can I print all sheets in a workbook with a macro?

Yes. A simple VBA macro like ActiveWorkbook.PrintOut prints the entire workbook. You can assign it to a button or a keyboard shortcut. This is useful if you print the same workbook regularly, but for one-time use, the built-in setting is faster.

How do I print all sheets in Excel on Mac?

On Excel for Mac, go to File > Print (Cmd+P), then in the Print dialog, find the dropdown that says “Print Active Sheets” and change it to “Print Entire Workbook.” The interface looks slightly different, but the option is there.

Does “Print Entire Workbook” include charts on separate sheets?

Yes, if the chart is on its own sheet (a chart sheet), it will print. If the chart is embedded in a worksheet, it prints as part of that worksheet’s output, provided the chart is within the print area.

Why does my print preview show fewer pages than expected?

Excel might be scaling the content to fit a certain number of pages. Check Page Layout > Scale to Fit. If it’s set to “Fit to 1 page wide by 1 page tall,” it will shrink everything to one page. Change it to “Actual Size” or set a specific percentage.

How do I print all sheets with the same header on every page?

Select all tabs (right-click > Select All Sheets), then go to Page Layout > Print Titles. Set the rows to repeat at the top. This applies to all selected sheets at once. Remember to deselect the group after printing to avoid accidental edits.

Method: the standard formula for this calculation, rounded as each result states. See how the calculators work or report an error.