Saving an Excel sheet as a PDF is a common task, especially for sharing reports or printing documents. However, one frequent problem users face is that parts of their worksheet get cut off or split awkwardly across pages. This happens because Excel’s default print and export settings may not fit the entire sheet neatly onto the PDF pages.
Here’s how to save your Excel sheet as a PDF without losing or cutting off any data:
Step 1: Adjust the Print Area
Highlight the cells or range you want to include in the PDF.
Go to the Page Layout tab.
Click Print Area > Set Print Area.
This tells Excel exactly which part of the sheet to export.
Step 2: Check Page Orientation and Size
In the Page Layout tab, select Orientation.
Choose Portrait or Landscape depending on your data layout.
Also, check Size to ensure you’re using the correct paper size (usually A4 or Letter).
Step 3: Use the “Fit to Page” Scaling Option
Still in the Page Layout tab, click the small arrow at the bottom-right of the Page Setup group to open the dialog box.
Go to the Page tab.
Under Scaling, select Fit to: and set it to fit 1 page wide by 1 page tall (or adjust accordingly).
This forces Excel to scale the content so it fits within the PDF page without cutting off.
Step 4: Preview Before Saving
Go to File > Print.
Use the print preview to check how the sheet will look.
Make sure all rows and columns are visible and nothing is cut off.
Step 5: Save as PDF
Once everything looks good, go to File > Save As.
Choose the folder where you want to save.
In the Save as type dropdown, select PDF (*.pdf).
Click Options if you want to specify whether to publish the entire workbook, active sheet, or selected print area.
Click Save.
Additional Tips
Adjust column widths and row heights if needed before saving.
Use page breaks (Page Layout > Breaks) to control where pages split.
Avoid very large fonts or excessive cell padding that may cause layout issues.
For very large sheets, fitting everything on one page may make the text too small, so consider splitting into multiple pages.