Do you want to know how to make a header in Excel? Or are you wondering how to add the footer page 1 to the current worksheet? This tutorial will teach you how to quickly insert one of the predefined headers and footers and how to create a custom one with your own text and graphics.
Headers and footers are displayed only on printed pages, in Print Preview and Page Layout view. In the normal worksheet view, they are not visible.
How to add header in Excel
Inserting a header in an Excel worksheet is quite easy. Here’s what you do:
Now, you can type text, insert a picture, add a preset header or specific elements in any of the three Header boxes at the top of the page. By default, the central box is selected:
When you print out your worksheet, the header will be repeated on each page.
Like an Excel header, a footer can also be inserted in a few easy steps:
As an example, let’s insert a footer that displays a page number and file name:
Voila, our Excel footer is created, and the following information will be printed at the bottom of each page:
Two things you should know about preset headers and footers
When inserting an inbuilt header or footer in Excel, please be aware of the following caveats.
Most of the preset headers and footers in Excel are entered as codes, which makes them dynamic – meaning your header or footer will change to reflect the latest changes you make to the worksheet.
2. Preset headers and footers are inserted in predefined boxes
When adding a built-in header or footer, you cannot control the location of specific elements – they are inserted in the predefined boxes no matter which box (left, center, or right) is currently selected. To position the header or footer the way you want, you can move the inserted elements to other boxes by copying / pasting their codes or add each element individually as explained in the next section.
How to make a custom header or footer in Excel
In Excel worksheets, not only can you add preset headers and footers, but also make your own ones with custom text and images.
This example will show you how to create a custom header with your company logo, page numbers, file name and current date.
To begin with, let’s insert File Name (workbook name) in the central header box:
Then, select the right box and insert Page Number there. As you can see in the screenshot below, this only displays the number:
Our custom Excel header looks pretty nice, don’t you think?
Tips:
To start a new line in a header or footer box, press the Enter key.
To include an ampersand (&) in the text, type two ampersand characters without spaces. For example, to include Products & Services in the header or footer, you type Products && Services.
To add page numbers to Excel headers and footers, insert the &[Page] code in combination with any text you want. For this, use the built-in Page Number element or one of the preset headers and footers. If you enter the numbers manually, you will end up having the same number on each page.
Add headers and footers using the Page Setup dialog box
If case you’d like to create a header or footer for chart sheets or for several worksheets at a time, the Page Setup dialog box is your option.
The Page Setup dialog box will show up where you can select one of the preset headers and footers or make your own one.
To create a custom header or footer, do the following:
For example, this is how you can add a page number to the right hand side of your Excel header: You can also type your own text in any section as well as edit or remove the existing text or codes.
There are two ways to edit headers and footers in Excel – in Page Layout view and by using Page Setup dialog.
Change header or footer in Page Layout view
Now, you select the header or footer text box and make the desired changes.
Change header or footer in the Page Setup dialog
Another way to modify an Excel footer or header is by using the Page Setup dialog box. Please remember that a header and footer of chart sheets can only be edited in this way.
Once you have finished creating or editing your Excel footer or header, how do you get out of the header and footer view and return to the regular view? By doing any of the following:
To delete headers and footers from multiple worksheets at once, carry out these steps:
Select the worksheets from which you want to remove a header or footer.
That’s it! All headers and footers in the selected sheets will be removed.
Now that you know the essentials of Excel headers and footers, the below tips may help you avoid common challenges.
How to add header and footer to all or selected sheets in Excel
To insert headers or footers on multiple worksheets at a time, select all target sheets, and then add a header or footer in the usual way.
How to format text in Excel header and footer
To quickly change the font style or font color of your header or footer, select the text and pick the desired formatting option in the pop-up window:
How to make a different header or footer for the first page
If you’d like to insert a specific header or footer on the first page of your worksheet, you can have it done in this way:
Change to Page Layout view.
Select the header or footer.
Go to the Design tab, and check the Different First Page box.
Set up a special header or footer for the first page.
Tip. If you want to create separate headers or footers for odd and even pages, select the Different Odd & Even Pages box, and enter different information on page 1 and page 2.
How avoid resizing the header / footer text when scaling the worksheet for printing
To keep the font size of the header or footer text intact when the worksheet is scaled for printing, switch to Page Layout view, select the header or footer, go to the Design tab and clear the Scale with Document box.
If you leave this checkbox selected, the header and footer font will scale with the worksheet. For example, the header text will become smaller when you select the Fit Sheet on One Page printing option.
That’s how you add, change and remove headers and footers in Excel. I thank you for reading and hope to see you on our blog next week.
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