Page Layout View (Interface)
Shows your sheet as printed pages, with margins, headers and footers visible and editable.
See It As It Will Print
Page Layout view lays your sheet out as paper. You can see exactly where each page ends and click straight into the header to type.
- Pages appear — With white margins
- Click the header — Type directly into it
- Rulers appear — Drag margins with them
How to do it
View tab ▸ Workbook Views ▸ Page Layout or the middle view button
This is the easiest place to add a header or footer — just click the area marked Add header.
| Item | What it does |
|---|---|
| Page edges | White gaps between pages |
| Header area | Click and type directly |
| Footer area | Same, at the bottom |
| Rulers | Drag to change margins |
What You Can Do Here
View ▸ Page Layout ▸ click Add header ▸ type
| Task | Easiest view |
|---|---|
| Add a header or footer | Page Layout |
| Change margins by dragging | Page Layout |
| See the printed page count | Page Layout |
| Move a page break | Page Break Preview |
| Fast data entry | Normal |
Result: Add header
For anything to do with headers, footers or margins, work in Page Layout.
Do this
- Use it to add headers and footers
- Drag the rulers to adjust margins
- Switch back to Normal when done
Avoid
- Doing data entry in this view — it is slow
- Not realising the header is directly editable
- Leaving a big file in this view
📌 Page Layout view is slower on a big sheet, because Excel draws every page boundary as you scroll.
Practice
- Switch to Page Layout view.
- Click the header area and type a title.
- Drag a margin using the ruler.
Quick quiz: You need to add the file name to the footer of every printed page. Which view makes that easiest?
- Normal
- Page Layout — click the footer area and type
- Page Break Preview
Show answer
View ▸ Page Layout ▸ click the footer ▸ Header & Footer tab ▸ File Name — Page Layout is the only view where you can click straight into a header or footer.
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