Spreadsheet applications like Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets can be difficult to print. The on-screen layout is not ideal when converted to a physical page (although switching to Page Break view can help with that), and you often need to make a lot of changes to make your data print well. One change that you may need to make is to repeat the header row on every page in Google Sheets.
The “header row” in a worksheet or spreadsheet is usually the top row of the spreadsheet, and it contains a descriptive word or phrase to identify the type of content that is in the rest of the rows in the column.
Before someone learns about the different options and print settings in their spreadsheet applications, it’s fairly common for them to manually add that header row multiple times inside their data so that it prints at the top of every page.
If you have ever resorted to this, then you know if can be incredibly frustrating. Sorting data is problematic, and adding or deleting rows can move those manually added rows to the wrong location.
Fortunately Google Sheets has an easy way for you to print your header row at the top of every page by enabling a setting found in the menu.
How to Repeat the Header Row at the Top of Every Page in Google Sheets
- Open your Sheets file.
- Click View.
- Select Freeze, then 1 row.
- Choose File, then Print.
- Click Headers & footers.
- Check Repeat frozen rows.
Our tutorial continues below with additional information on repeating the top row on every page in Google Sheets, including pictures of these steps.
How to Print the First Row on Every Page in Google Sheets (Guide with Pictures)
The steps in this article were performed in the laptop or desktop version of the Google Chrome Web browser, but will also work in most other Web browsers on laptop or desktop computers, such as Mozilla Firefox or Microsoft Edge.
Step 1: Sign into Google Sheets and open your file.
Step 2: Select the View tab at the top of the window.
Step 3 Choose the Freeze option at the top of the menu, then select the 1 row option from the pop out menu.
The bottom section of this Freeze menu will allow you to freeze columns instead of rows, if you need that formatting option instead.
Step 4: Select the File tab from the top menu, then choose Print from the bottom of the menu.
You can also open the Google Sheets Print menu with the keyboard shortcut of Ctrl + P.
Step 5: Click the Headers & footers tab at the bottom right of the window.
Step 6: Scroll to the bottom of this section and check the box to the left of Repeat frozen rows.
In the image below my spreadsheet is configured to repeat the top frozen row on each page of my printed document.
For additional information on repeating rows and columns in Google Sheets, continue to the next section.
Google Sheets – Repeat Header Row on Each Page – More Information
Depending on the layout of your spreadsheet you may have a header column instead. Fortunately the process for repeating a header column on each page in Google Sheets is nearly identical. You would simply select the corresponding “column” option from these menus instead.
Our guide focuses on repeating the first row at the top of every page in Google Sheets, but you can elect to print multiple rows instead. Rather than choosing the “1 row” option from the Freeze menu you could choose any of the following options:
- No rows
- 1 row
- 2 rows
- Up to current row
- No columns
- 1 column
- 2 columns
- Up to current column
You can make use of the “Up to current” option by first selecting the row number or column letter that is the last row or column that you want to freeze or repeat on each page.
If you only want to freeze rows or columns on your screen, but you don’t want to repeat data on each page, then be sure to uncheck the “Repeat frozen” option in the “Headers & footers” section of the Print menu.
Conclusion
Electing to repeat header rows on each page in Google Sheets is a great way to make your spreadsheet easier to read when it’s printed. Dealing with poorly formatted data can be annoying for you as the creator or editor of the spreadsheet, but it can be difficult for other people that are looking at it too. Whether this is a teacher, colleague, customer, or client, anything that you can do to make your data more digestible is a step in the right direction.
Matthew Burleigh has been a freelance writer since the early 2000s. You can find his writing all over the Web, where his content has collectively been read millions of times.
Matthew received his Master’s degree in Computer Science, then spent over a decade as an IT consultant for small businesses before focusing on writing and website creation.
The topics he covers for MasterYourTech.com include iPhones, Microsoft Office, and Google Apps.
You can read his full bio here.