Excel Fit to Page Scale/Preview Looks Small (5 Suitable Solutions)

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Fit to Page Too Small.xlsx

Why Does Text in Excel Fit to Page Scale/Preview Look Too Small?

We have a dataset containing the sales made by company employees between 2001 to 2021. It covers the range A1:W42. A partial picture of the dataset is given below. We need to print the entire dataset on a single page.

We pressed Ctrl + P to print the dataset. We chose Fit Sheet on One Page from Settings on the print window.

We clicked on Print. The printed dataset will look as follows. But, this is too small to read.

Go back to the Page Layout tab. You will see the Scale is reduced to only 31%. You must try to keep it at least above 70%.

5 Solutions If Fit to Page Preview/Scale in Excel Looks Too Small to Read

Solution 1 – Hide Rows/Columns

Hide any unnecessary rows or columns to allocate more data on a single page. Here, column B has some extra space on the right. Adjust the width by dragging the column number separator line.

Solution 2 – Reduce Page Margins

Set the page margin to Narrow from the Page Layout tab. The Scale will increase to 35%.
Click on Custom Margins to reduce the margins further or remove them altogether.

You will see the Page Setup dialog box.
Reduce the margins as required or set them to zero.
Click OK. The Scale will increase to 37%. But, we are still far behind the required Scale percentage.

Solution 3 – Change the Page Orientation

The dataset has more columns than usual. Using Landscape orientation for printing is more suitable in such cases.
Select Page Layout, then choose Orientation and select Landscape. The Scale will jump to 48%.

Solution 4 – Change the Page Size

By default, Excel uses the Letter size for printing. If you choose the A3 size instead, the Scale will jump to 73%. If you choose the A4 size, the Scale will increase to 51%.
Go to Page Layout and click on the paper size under Size to change it.