I have Microsoft Office for Mac and I’m learning how to create and print a spreadsheet. I’ve created my spreadsheet and I want to print “selected” columns only. I’m able to select my first two columns and get them to the Set Print Area. My Office Assistant tells me how to select the next required column (not adjacent) and refers me to the “contextual menu” for adding it to the Print Area. I can’t find the “contextual menu”. I am using Control Click in the cell area. I’ve looked everywhere that I can think of. Can you tell me where it is and how to get to it?
What are Contextual Menus?
Contextual menus are shortcut menus or popup screens offering additional choices when working with software or the operating system. For example, by right-clicking one of the tabs in your spreadsheet, a contextual menu will appear giving you choices including: insert, delete, rename, move or copy, view code, protect sheet, tab color, hide/unhide, and select all sheets.
Setting the Print Area
You are on the right track by using Control Click to select your columns. In fact, you should be able to Control Click any column that you want to print while skipping those that you do not want to print. Use Control Click to highlight each column that you want to print, skipping over those that you do not want to print. Once you have your columns selected in Excel 2008 for Mac, go to the File menu and choose Print Area. When you click on Print Area, another menu (a contextual menu) opens where you will then choose Set Print Area.
For users of Excel 2007, the process is a bit different. In this case, Control Click is also used to select the columns. However, to set the print area, you would need to go to the Page Layout tab and click the Print Area down arrow. Choose Set Print Area.
In either case, once the print area has been selected, you’ll notice a series of dashed lines that indicate which areas are set for printing.
Previewing the Columns
Next, you’ll want to see how your printout will look before printing. Use the Print Preview feature to make sure that all columns display as they should. If the columns do not appear on a single page (and they probably won’t), go into File > Page Setup and make the necessary adjustments. For example, you might want to change the page to a landscape orientation or adjust the page to a percentage of its original size. Sometimes, adjusting the margins gives you enough additional space to squeeze everything in though it depends on the contents of your spreadsheet.
Printing the Selected Area
Once you’ve set the print area and adjusted the page layout, do a quick Print Preview to make sure your printout looks the way you’d like it and then print away!
Celeste Stewart | May 27th, 2009
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Thank you your response. This process is not working for me. The Mircorsoft Office for Mac that I have is Excel 97 through 2004. I did not know this when I sent in my question. Do I need to send in another question?
No need to send another question. I’ll see what I can find out for your version of Excel.
From what I can tell, you should be able to select the columns individually using Control+Click, then use the File > Print Area > Set Print Area command for those earlier versions of Excel for Mac.
If that doesn’t work, for now, I’d temporarily hide the columns that you don’t want to print so that you can at least print your document.
I’m sending out a “tweet” to the “twitterverse” in hopes that a Mac Excel user will come help us out.