Print Excel Table Only Without Print Area

Print Excel Table Only

Today, we’ll look at a time-saving Table trick that you might not know about. See how to print Excel table only, without print area setup.

Excel Table Feature

When you are working with lists in Excel, you can use the built-in Table feature, to make it easier to work with the data. This automatically creates drop down lists in the heading cells, where you can sort and filter the data.

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The tables also expand and contract when you add or remove data, so they are perfect to use as the source data for a pivot table – you don’t have to manually adjust the range after updating the data.

Print an Excel Table

Aside from all the obvious benefits of using formatted Excel tables, there is another reason to use them – it’s very easy to print just the table, without anything else that’s on the worksheet.

For example, in the screen shot below, there are three tables on the sheet, plus a chart, and other text. I’d like to print just the list of Workdays, without any of the other data.

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To do that, I could

  • select all the cells, then go to the Print dialog box, and set it to just print the selection.
  • Or, set the print area for the table’s cell, and remember to remove the print area later.

But, if this is something that you have to do frequently, you can use a built-in Excel command.

Use the Print List Command

There is a Print List command in Excel, that prints just the table for the active cell. This command used to be on the Lists toolbar, in Excel 2003.

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However, the command is not on the Ribbon, so you can add it there (Excel 2010/2013), or put the command on the Quick Access Toolbar. Use the Customize the Ribbon command, and you’ll find the Print List command in “Commands not in the Ribbon”

In the screen shot below, I created a Printing group on the Home tab, and add the command there. It shows up as “Print Table”, even though it’s called “Print List” in the Customize the Ribbon list.

Select any cell in a table, then click the command, to print just that table.

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Print a Table with Print Options

Using the Print List button will automatically print the selected table from your default printer, without letting you set any other print options.

If you want to print just the selected table, but have a bit more control over the print options, follow these steps:

  1. Select a cell in the table that you want to print
  2. On the Ribbon, click the File tab (or the Office button in Excel 2007)
  3. Click Print, to see the Print options
  4. Under Settings, select “Print Selected Table”
  5. Change any other settings, such as scaling, or select a different printer.
  6. Then, click the Print button, to print the table.

Dashboard Course Discount Deadline

You could use this tip for tables on a dashboard too, and tomorrow is the deadline to register for Mynda Treacy’s upcoming Excel Dashboard Course.

It’s a great course, and will quickly get you up and running with dashboards.

Excel Dashboard Course

Video: Print Excel Table Only

Watch this short video to see the steps for adding the Print List command to the Ribbon, and printing the selected table.

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0 thoughts on “Print Excel Table Only Without Print Area”

  1. Hi Deb
    That’s neat!!
    I don’t think I ever noticed it back in the 2003 days, so that’s a great find.

  2. Hi Debra,
    This is a nice tips. However I find a limitation of it, which is we cannot preview before Print. If the Table is big enough to fit just 1 page width / long, the printout could be wasting paper… which i just did :(.
    Is there a way to show the print preview first by using this “Print Table” function?

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