Remove Page 1 Watermark in Excel-Easy Steps
Have you ever opened an Excel workbook and noticed a large Page 1 watermark in the middle of your worksheet? See why that happens, and how you can fix it.
Video: Remove Page 1 Watermark
In this short video, and the written steps below, I’ll show you the easy steps to remove that big page number from the Excel background.
Note: The full video transcript is at the end of this page.
Why Does Page 1 Appear?
That large grey Page 1 watermark appears on an Excel sheet if you’re in Page Break view.
Usually, a worksheet is in Normal view, and that page number isn’t visible on the cell grid.
Somehow, your workbook switched to Page Break Preview. Maybe a co-worker changed the view, or it might have been changed accidentally.
Anyway, the good news it that this problem is easy to fix!
Switch to Normal View
To get out of Page Break Preview mode and go back to the normal view, follow these simple steps:
- On the Excel Ribbon, click on the View tab.
- At the left end of the Ribbon, click on Normal
- The sheet changes, and the Page 1 watermark disappears.
Now you can see your worksheet as you usually do!
Switch to Page Break Preview
If you’d ever like to go back to Page Break Preview, follow these steps:
- On the Excel Ribbon, go to the View tab.
- Click on Page Break Preview.
Note: You might see a Welcome to Page Break Preview message explaining what you can do in this view. If you don’t want to see this again, just check the box and click OK.
Using Page Break Preview
In Page Break Preview, you’ll see dashed blue lines indicating automatic page breaks. Excel inserts those, based on your worksheet’s layout.
As you scroll down, you can see how your pages will look when printed.
For example, if you’re on page 2, everything you see there will print on that page.
Adjust Page Breaks
If you want to keep certain sections together, you can move the page breaks:
- Hover over the dashed blue line (automatic page break) to see it change to a hand icon.
- Click and drag the line to the spot where you want it.
- For example, you can move it between two rows to keep related data together.
When you release the mouse button, the line will turn solid blue, indicating that it is now a manual page break.
Checking Page Layout Before Printing
Before you print, it’s a good idea to check each page in Page Break Preview to make sure everything is in the right place.
If not, you can adjust the page breaks by dragging them around.
Remove Page Breaks
If you change your mind about a manual page break, you can easily remove it:
- Click on the cell just below the manual page break you want to remove.
- Right-click and select Remove Page Break.
To remove all manual page breaks, right-click and choose Reset All Page Breaks.
Switch to Normal View
When you’re done adjusting your page breaks, return to the normal view:
- Click the Normal button in the View tab, or
- Click the Normal View button at the bottom right of the Excel window.
Now you’re back to the regular spreadsheet view, ready for any other tasks you need to do!
Excel Printing Tips
For more tips on Excel, visit the Excel Printing page on my Contextures site.
Video Transcript
In Excel, you might open a workbook, or switch to a different worksheet, and see a large Page 1 in gray in the middle of your worksheet. This is a sign that you’re in page break preview, and it can be a very useful place to work.
Turn It Off
I’ll show you how you can use it, but first I’ll show you how to turn this off, and then back on. To turn it off,
- Go to the ribbon and click the View tab
- At the left, you’ll see Normal, Page Layout and Page Break Preview.
- To go back to the regular view, you just click Normal
There is your worksheet, as you’re used to seeing it.
Page Break Preview Features
We’ll go back into Page Break Preview, so you can see some of the useful features that it has.
- NOTE: The first time you use it, you might see this little welcome that tells you what you can do in Page Break Preview. And if you don’t want to see that again, just check the box, and click OK.
As I scroll down in Page Break Preview, if it’s a long worksheet, you’ll see dashed blue lines, and that indicates an automatic page break.
If I scroll down now I’m on page two and you can see what we’ll print on page two and three, and so on down to the end of the worksheet.
If I look at the place that the first page break will fall, I’m going to increase the zoom a little so I can see what’s there. And there are a few items here for February 21st.
Move a Page Break
Some of them are on page one, and the rest are on page two. If I’d like to keep those all together, I can move this page break.
- I’ll point to the line, drag it up, so it’s between the 14th and the 21st.
When I let go, it’s now a solid blue line, and that indicates a manual page break — one that I’ve put in, rather than an automatic one.
If I scroll down, there’s the end of page two, I can adjust it as well by dragging up.
You can just check each page before you print it and make sure everything is in a place where you want it.
Remove a Page Break
After you’ve added manual page breaks, you can also remove them if you change your mind.
So if I click on this cell, just below the first manual page break, and right click, I can click the command here to remove that page break.
It’s gone now, and there’s the automatic page break back.
If I want to get rid of all of the page breaks that I put in, I can right-click, and reset all page breaks.
Go Back to Normal View
Then to go back to normal view:
- You can click this button on the View tab
- Or at the bottom-right click the Normal View button
and you’re back to the regular spreadsheet view.
More Printing Tips
For more Excel printing tips, try these pages on my Contextures site:
Pivot Filter Pre-Printing Diagnostic
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