How to Repeat Header Rows on Every Printed Page in Excel
Print a long spreadsheet and only page 1 has the column headings. Pages 2, 3 and 4 are just rows of numbers, and nobody knows which column is which. Print Titles fixes that by repeating your heading row at the top of every printed page.
Repeat the top row on every page
1. Go to the sheet you want to print.
2. On the Page Layout tab, click Print Titles (in the Page Setup group).
3. Click in the Rows to repeat at top box.
4. Click the row number of your heading row on the sheet (e.g. row 1). The box shows $1:$1.
• For more than one heading row, drag down the row numbers, e.g. rows 1 to 3 shows $1:$3.
5. Click OK.
2. On the Page Layout tab, click Print Titles (in the Page Setup group).
3. Click in the Rows to repeat at top box.
4. Click the row number of your heading row on the sheet (e.g. row 1). The box shows $1:$1.
• For more than one heading row, drag down the row numbers, e.g. rows 1 to 3 shows $1:$3.
5. Click OK.
Check it worked
Press Ctrl + P to open the print preview. Click through the pages with the arrows at the bottom. Every page now starts with your heading row.
The headings only appear on printouts and PDFs. Nothing changes on screen.
Repeat columns on the left
If your sheet is very wide and prints across several pages, you can repeat the first column too, for example a column of names, so every page shows whose data it is.
In the same Page Setup box, click in Columns to repeat at left and click the column letter (e.g. A). It shows $A:$A.
Print Titles vs Freeze Panes
They solve the same problem in different places:
• Freeze Panes (View tab) keeps headings visible on screen as you scroll.
• Print Titles repeats headings on paper and in PDFs.
• Print Titles repeats headings on paper and in PDFs.
Setting one doesn't set the other, so for long sheets you'll usually want both.
Make it print neatly
While you're in Page Setup, a few other settings help long printouts:
• Page tab: choose Landscape for wide sheets, and Fit to 1 page wide by (leave tall blank) to stop columns spilling onto extra pages.
• Sheet tab: tick Gridlines to print the cell borders.
• Header/Footer tab: add page numbers.
• Sheet tab: tick Gridlines to print the cell borders.
• Header/Footer tab: add page numbers.
Troubleshooting
The Rows to repeat at top box is greyed out. You opened Page Setup from the Print screen (File > Print). Close it, go to the Page Layout tab and click Print Titles there instead.
It's also greyed out from Page Layout. You may have several sheets grouped together. Right-click a sheet tab and choose Ungroup Sheets, then try again. Print Titles has to be set for each sheet separately.
The headings still don't repeat. Check you set it on the right sheet, and that a print area isn't cutting the headings off. Clear it with Page Layout > Print Area > Clear Print Area.
Wrapping up
Page Layout > Print Titles, click Rows to repeat at top, click your heading row, OK. Every printed page now has headings, and readers will thank you for it.
