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.
To make your printed Excel documents look more stylish and professional, you can include a header or footer on each page of your worksheet. Generally, headers and footers contain basic information about the spreadsheet such as page number, current date, workbook name, file path, etc. Microsoft Excel provides a handful of predefined headers and footers to choose from, as well as allows creating your own ones.
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.
Inserting a header in an Excel worksheet is quite easy. Here's what you do:
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:
For example, to insert page numbers at the bottom of the worksheet, select one of the footer boxes and click Page Number on the Design tab, in the Header & Footer group.
Microsoft Excel comes equipped with a number of inbuilt headers and footers that can be inserted in your document in a mouse click. Here's how:
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:
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.
For example, the code &[Page] inserts different page numbers on each page and &[File] displays the current file name. To see the codes, just click the corresponding header or footer text box. If you have chosen to add a complex header or footer, chances are that different elements will be inserted in different boxes like in the above example:
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.
In Excel worksheets, not only can you add preset headers and footers, but also make your own ones with custom text and images.
As usual, you start by clicking the Header & Footer button on the Insert tab. Then, click one of the boxes at the top (header) or at the bottom (footer) of the worksheet and type your text there. You can also enter different pieces of information by selecting one of the built-in elements on the Design tab, in the Header & Footer Elements group.
This example will show you how to create a custom header with your company logo, page numbers, file name and current date.
As soon as you click anywhere outside the header box, an actual picture will show up.
Our custom Excel header looks pretty nice, don't you think?
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.
To insert a preset one, click the drop-down arrow in the Header or Footer box and choose from the available options. For example:
To create a custom header or footer, do the following:
There are two ways to edit headers and footers in Excel - in Page Layout view and by using Page Setup dialog.
To switch to Page Layout view, go to the View tab > Workbook Views group, and click Page Layout.
Or, click the Page Layout button on the status bar in the bottom-right corner of the worksheet:
Now, you select the header or footer text box and make the desired changes.
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:
On the View tab > Workbook Views group, click Normal.
Or, just click the Normal button on the status bar.
To remove an individual header or footer, simply switch to Page Layout view, click the header or footer text box, and press the Delete or Backspace key.
To delete headers and footers from multiple worksheets at once, carry out these steps:
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.
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.
Once the worksheets are selected, go to the Insert tab > Text group > Header & Footer and enter the header or footer information as you like. Or insert a header/footer via the Page Setup dialog.
When finished, right click any unselected sheet to ungroup the worksheets. If all of the sheets are selected, click any sheet tab, and then click Ungroup Sheets in the context menu.
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:
Alternatively, select the header or footer text you want to change, head to the Home tab > Font group and select the formatting options you want.
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:
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.
28 responses to "Header and footer in Excel: how to insert, edit and remove"
thanks svetlana
nice post
How do I display both the current date and the date of one week ago in the header?
Hello, Robert:
Your's was a very interesting question that I had never considered. Entering current date is easy and can be done in the print page setup. Entering current or other date info into a worksheet cell is pretty easy, but headers and footers are special cases. You might need to consider entering the past date into the worksheet in a cell located at the top of the page.
T any rate, it took some searching, but I think I found an answer. It will require a VBA solution. The explanation for which can be found here: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/msoffice_excel-mso_other-mso_2007/find-replace-in-excel-header/d0714cc7-3896-44a6-93d4-9d9b771c5ccf
and also here:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/213742/macro-to-change-the-date-time-format-in-a-header-or-footer
How to add more than 3 columns in the predefined Header and footer section?
do How do change the back ground of th the cell
I have gone through the article on Header and Footer. This is rather applicable to PC, etc. What about Android mobile device? I shall be pleased to receive guidance from you.
Is there a way to change the picture dependant on a cell selection.
The scenario we have employees select the brand/ customer they are working on from a drop cell, and it changes the picture in the footer.
Right now we have to have multiple variants of the same spreadsheet which is tedious.
Is there any way to purge the drop-down list containing previous footer history? I want to delete confidential info that was included in a prior footer. Thanks!
How To Add Text Above The Bottom Line in The Rightmost Footer Box
Have you noticed that the text in the last footer text box is right adjusted AND at the bottom of the text box? Usually, this is what you want. For example, it is a great place to insert the "file name" when you are creating and printing multiple drafts of a spreadsheet.
But sometimes, you want to insert text above the bottom line. There is a simple solution. Use Alt+Enter to insert a new line character in front of the text on the bottom line. This inserts a new line ABOVE the bottom line.
If you want to use this trick, be sure to save your spreadsheet before you do. It is easy to mess up the format of the footer, and the easiest way to fix it is to exit the spreadsheet and load a new copy.
Deacon John
how do i insert a space between 2 footers in exce
Hello,
I received an excel document when open it shows the file name OVERHAUL-ebc. The main file name is actually OVERHAUL, but I want to get rid of ebc cause this is the author's name or signature. Also it is affecting my other new open excel docs whereby it appears Book4-ebc.
Hoping you can help.
Thank you.
bonjing
There is NOT a way to EDIT a footer, like in Word. I do NOT want to create a new footer each time I change the Rev.date. old versions worked well. It is a shame that "software writers" like to show how complicated they can make a system work (or not work). Someone help me "EDIT" a footer.
I need to justify left the text in the right header using VBA. Below is hte current code I have for the right header.
wks.PageSetup.RightHeader = "&R" & "DocID: " & DocProperty("##ID##") & " Version: " & DocProperty("##REVISION##")
Hi,
i would like to know how to amend an exiting date in header which is copied fromt he system and exported to excell
e.g: date is Aug 20, xxxx i want to change to Sep 10, xxxx
You don't explain here how to add formulas and this is the main question here. Bad response
Just thanks. This was a clear explanation and solved my problem.
Why is my footer covered up by the content of the spreadsheet?
When I go to print I can't see it except a few words outside the margins of the actual cells.
Thanks!
The size of printing in custom header is too small.
How do I make it larger?
Am NOT able to delete a header or footer from a spread sheet. Nothing you post above works.
My footer will not delete. I select none and hit the save button but still comes back. How do i get rid of it permamanetly
please I am a new person Excel VBA macros, I need a tutorials on how to write and create VBA macros in excel
Thank you
Best Regards
Please help me....
I have placed the header in
Sheet 1 same header
Sheet 2 same header
Sheet 3 same header but different on 1st page (do not want to show)
When I select all sheets, it shows the same header on sheet 3 1st page too. Why and how to remove it.
Thank you so much - sorted my adding header and footer issue - trick was go to "normal view" with the icon near the scale bar. GooglSearch - e Frustration gone in a moment!
I still use Excell 12.3.6
How can I remove a header from a second sheet?
HI..
I have setup a header with my company letterhead jpeg file. When I share by email or save in a transfer folder, the other parties cannot open the working files with the letterhead appearing.
please advice, thanks in advance.
The Normal Workbook View is grayed out. Am I stuck in Header & Footer? I am using Microsoft 365
I closed the file. Upon reopening it, I found that I was still in Header & Footer mode, but I could return to Normal view.