We explain which are the most recommended methods to print an Excel spreadsheet with and without Office installed on your computer.
Excel spreadsheets continue to be a standard in the market, especially among professional users. If one of these XLSX files has come into your hands and you want to print it, here we give you all the instructions you should know. But we are not only going to focus on the Office application itself. We also give you alternatives that will allow you to print a spreadsheet without Microsoft programs.
Read on to find out everything you need to do to print an Excel spreadsheet . First, we explain the corresponding steps that you must carry out from the Microsoft application. Then, we discuss some additional solutions if you don’t want or can’t install the reference office suite on your computer. Let’s start!
Index of contents
- How to print an Excel spreadsheet with Office installed
- How to Print an Excel Spreadsheet Without Office Installed
- Con LibreOffice
- Con Excel Online
- With Google Sheets
How to print an Excel spreadsheet with Office installed
The first option that we propose when printing an Excel spreadsheet is none other than using the application provided in Microsoft Office. Once you have the file open, click File to see all the options. How could it be otherwise, the one that interests you is Print .
Click on it to see all the options related to printing.
This is all you need to set up to make a hard copy of a spreadsheet:
- printer. Select the destination printer. Remember that if you don’t have one, you can use the Microsoft Print to PDF virtual printer to convert the Excel file into a PDF .
- Pages. Establish the pages that you are going to print having as reference the preview that you have on the right.
- Other parameters. Depending on the type of spreadsheet you are going to print, there is the possibility of adapting the orientation, the size of the sheet or the margins. Do not forget that all the changes that you apply are seen in the print preview that is located on the right side. The way the document is displayed in this window is how it will come out of the printer.
We have not skipped sheet printing. Rather, we want to look at this option in more detail because we think it’s relevant.
You can choose between these three options:
- Print active sheets. Remember that a workbook can have more than one spreadsheet. With this parameter, only those that are active will be printed.
- Print the entire book. Or what is the same, print all the spreadsheets of the XLSX file.
- Print selection. Make a copy of a specific range that you have previously selected. If this is the option you want to use, but you haven’t made your cell selection, go back to the spreadsheet, choose the appropriate interval, and return to the print panel.
When you’re all set, hit the Print button to start printing the spreadsheet. To avoid errors, take a look at the preview or export the document as a PDF. This way you can make sure the spreadsheet is printed exactly how you need it to be.
How to Print an Excel Spreadsheet Without Office Installed
Not everyone has Excel installed on their computer. If that is your case, the alternative solutions that we propose will be very useful for you to print a spreadsheet without installing the Microsoft office suite .
Con LibreOffice
LibreOffice is a free and open source suite that can be downloaded from its website. Once installed on your computer, you must use the Calc app to open Excel files.
Later, access your printing panel to make a copy of the calculation book that you have opened. Although it has a somewhat cruder interface, the printing options are very similar to those you’ll find in Excel.
Con Excel Online
Excel Online is one of the web applications that make up the Microsoft online suite. In fact, this is one of the best free alternatives to Office . The first step is to upload the file to OneDrive. Log into the browser and drag the XLSX file to your drive. Then double click on it to open it.
Similar to desktop Excel, just press the File menu and click Print . Then, a series of options will appear that allow you to adjust the printing. In this case, the preview is placed on the left side of the screen.
Click Print to begin the process.
With Google Sheets
Finally, we’re done with Google Sheets . This is a very interesting option if you are already a Google Drive user. There are two options to open an Excel spreadsheet in this online application:
- Uploading the file to Drive. Drag it from the browser to the browser and wait for it to upload.
- With the Google Drive app for Windows. If the file is located in a folder synced with Drive, right-click on it and click Open with Google Sheets . In Windows 11 you may first need to click See more options .
Once you’ve opened it, open the File menu and then click Print .
A series of controls will appear on the screen to adjust the printing, with a very useful preview to make sure that the changes applied are correct.
Other resources to help you with Excel:
- Microsoft unifies Word, Excel and Power Point in its iPad app
- Microsoft Excel surpasses one billion downloads on Android
- How to download and use templates in Excel
- Microsoft Excel turns 30
And you, what application do you usually open to print Excel spreadsheets? Are you more of online platforms or having the necessary software installed locally? Leave us your comment
