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How to Repeat Header Rows on Every Printed Excel Page

A long spreadsheet that prints across many pages doesn't need to lose its column headers after page one -- Print Titles keeps them at the top of every page automatically.

  1. Open Print Titles from the Page Layout tab

    On the Page Layout tab, find the Page Setup group and click Print Titles.

  2. Click into the 'Rows to repeat at top' field

    In the Sheet tab of the dialog box, click inside the field labeled Rows to repeat at top.

  3. Click the row that contains your headers

    Click anywhere in the row with your column headers (typically row 1) in the worksheet, and Excel fills in the range automatically.

  4. Confirm, then check Print Preview

    Click OK, then open Print Preview to confirm the header row now appears at the top of every page.

  5. Why this is worth knowing

    In a long table that spans multiple printed pages, only the first page would normally show the column headers -- Print Titles repeats them on every page, so every printed sheet is readable on its own.

The problem this solves

When a spreadsheet is long enough to print across several pages, only the very first page carries the column headers by default. Anyone reading page four of a printed report has no way to tell what each column means without flipping back to page one. Print Titles fixes this at the source -- once a header row is set to repeat, every subsequent printed page automatically includes it, without needing to manually copy header text anywhere.

Rows vs. columns

Print Titles has two matching fields: one for rows to repeat at the top, and one for columns to repeat at the left. A wide spreadsheet that prints across multiple pages left-to-right has the same problem in reverse -- the leftmost identifying column (like a name or ID) only appears on the first page horizontally. Filling in both fields together solves the header problem in both directions for spreadsheets that are both long and wide.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does this change what's shown on screen, or only what prints?

Only printing. Print Titles has no effect on how the spreadsheet looks on screen -- it strictly controls what repeats on physical or PDF-printed pages.

Can I select more than one header row to repeat?

Yes, you can drag to select a range of several adjacent rows in the 'Rows to repeat at top' field, and all of them will repeat together at the top of every page.