How to Center a Worksheet Horizontally in Excel (2024 Guide)

It is not as simple to print an Excel sheet as it is to print a Word document.

Most of the time, when you print Excel sheets, the data is not properly aligned on the page. Your dedicated work appears unprofessional as a result 😩

What you can do is center your worksheets in Excel to give your work a more professional look when printed 🧑💼

Learn exactly how to center a worksheet horizontally in Excel in this lesson 😊

To start, download this attached Excel workbook you can practice on.

Center a worksheet horizontally from Page Setup

The Excel table below displays information on students enrolled in a course. You wish to print this table now 🖨️

The Print section is already configured to print on one page.

Let’s assume that you print the above table, without centering the worksheet horizontally.

Then, your printed page will look like the one below.

You can check that from the print preview window.

The first method to center a worksheet horizontally is to use the Page Setup 😃

You can do so by following the steps outlined below.

1. Select a cell on the Excel worksheet and go to the “Page Layout” tab.

2. Click the Page Setup launcher tool to open the Page Setup Dialog Box. You can see it from the bottom right corner of the Page Setup group.

3. Go to the “Margins” tab of the Page Setup Dialog Box.

4. Check the first check box under the “Center on Page” to center the worksheet Horizontally.

5. Click the OK button. You can also click either the Print button or Print Preview button to center the worksheet horizontally.

Your Excel page will now appear as shown below if you check the print preview 🤩

Pro Tip:

You can directly go to the “Margins” tab of the Page Setup Dialog Box by following the below path.

1. Go to the “Page Layout” tab.

2. Expand the drop-down menu of the “Margins” icon.

3. Click the “Custom Margins” option.

Then you will directly go to the “Margins” tab of the Page Setup Dialog Box 🥳

Center a worksheet horizontally using Print Preview

The alternate method to center a worksheet horizontally is to use the print preview from the print settings.

The steps to follow are listed below.

1. Go to the “File” tab.

2. Click the “Print” option to open the print settings.

Pro Tip:

You can directly open the print settings using the “Control + P” keyboard shortcut 😍

3. Click the “Page Setup” option under the Print Settings to open the “Page Setup” dialog box.

4. Go to the “Margin” tab of the Page Setup window.

5. Check the first check box under the “Center on Page” to center the worksheet Horizontally.

6. Click the OK button.

Now, you can print worksheet data on a horizontally centered worksheet.

Pro Tip:

The margin values for left and right cannot be manually changed once the box to center the worksheet horizontally has been ticked. It will not change your page margins whether you increase or decrease the margins.

So, how do you do that? 🤔

First, deselect the option for horizontal centering. Adjust the margins on the left and/or right side. Finally, check the box to horizontally center the worksheet.

Center horizontally AND vertically in Excel

Sometimes, we need to center the worksheet horizontally and vertically.

Then, you have to check both boxes – horizontally and vertically from the Page Setup menu.

When you click the “OK” button, desired print layout occurs.

That’s it – Now what

Well done! 👏

Now that you know how to center worksheets horizontally and vertically in Excel, you can now improve the quality of your printed spreadsheet.

But that barely covers what Microsoft Excel can do for you!

With its built-in features and functions, Microsoft Excel is a game changer that could revolutionize the way you work 🚀

Sounds awesome? 😀 Start learning advanced Excel functions like VLOOKUP, IF, and SUMIF.

Learn these now by enrolling in my 30-minute free online training course 💻 and kickstart your Excel journey.

Other resources

There are more things that you should learn before printing an Excel spreadsheet 🏫

You can refer to our article about Print Spreadsheets to learn how to:

• Print an Excel sheet on one page
• Print the entire workbook
• Change the print area
• Print comments

Don’t forget to learn about How to Set Excel Print Titles and Print Headings, How to Print Labels From Excel, and How to Print Gridlines in Excel.