PC Doctor March 28, 2014

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Dear PC Doctor:

I am using Excel to work with some data and I have a few questions.  The spreadsheet is many pages long – I’d love it if the column headings could show on every page when I’m working with the data and when I print it.  How do I do that?  I’ve thought about experimenting with different formatting options but, this data is important and I’m worried I might accidentally delete or change something.

      Thanks, Carol

Dear Carol:

Great questions!

First, here’s something you can do to ease your mind when you are trying to learn how to use a new program and don’t want to risk altering your data.  Open the file you are working with.  Use “Save As.” (If you are in Excel in Windows 7, go to the orb at the top left.  You’ll get a pull-down menu. “Save As” will be one of the choices.) I like to use a file name like ‘test data’ so I know I’m not working with my real file.  Now, you can try all kinds of things and still keep your original data safe.  This feature works essentially the same way in all Office programs.

To keep the column headings visible on every page of your Excel worksheet when you print, follow these steps: On the horizontal menu across the top, click “Page Layout.” There will be five boxes across the top.  Fourth from the left is “Sheet Options.” In “Sheet Options” look for “Headings.” Under “Headings,” click the check box next to the word “Print.” Good luck!

Until next time… Happy Computing!

      PC Doctor