Cannot print from Excel
Fix Excel printing problems of Windows 11/10
If you cannot print from Excel but Word can or maybe you see a Not enough memory error message then here are some suggestions to help you fix Excel printing problems. Before you proceed, make sure that you are using the latest version of Microsoft Office. You can also try to update Office manually and see if it fixes the problem. If the problem persists, try the solutions provided below. Let’s see all these solutions in detail.
1] Try to print via Microsoft XPS Document Writer
Before printing a spreadsheet, Excel shows us an option to select the printer. If you are unable to print from Excel via your default printer, try to print via Microsoft XPS Document Writer. The steps to do this are as follows: Now, open the saved file. You should be able to print it.
2] Update your printer driver
You might be experiencing printing issues with Excel due to the corrupted or outdated printer driver. We suggest you update your printer driver and see what happens.
You have the following choices when it comes to updating the printer driver.
3] Edit permissions in the Registry Editor
Windows Registry is a hierarchical database that stores the Windows settings and configurations. Any mistake while modifying the Windows Registry can lead to serious damage to the system. Therefore, before you proceed, we recommend you create a System Restore Point and backup Windows Registry. Follow the instructions carefully. Press the Win + R keys. This will open the Run command box. Type regedit and click OK. Click Yes in the UAC prompt.
When the Registry Editor appears on your screen, go to the following path. Simply copy the path given below and paste it into the address bar of the Registry Editor. After that, press Enter. Right-click on the Windows key and select Permissions. The Permissions dialog box will appear. Now, click on the Allow checkbox next to the Full Control option. Click Apply and then click OK.
4] Troubleshoot Excel in Safe Mode
If the problem still persists, there might be a problematic add-in. To confirm this, launch Excel in Safe Mode and print your spreadsheet. If you are able to print your spreadsheet in the Safe Mode, an add-in is causing the problem. Now, close Excel and open it again in the normal mode. Start disabling all the COM add-ins one by one and print your spreadsheet every time you disable an add-in. This will let you know which add-in is causing the problem. According to the feedback of affected users, the Acrobat PDFMaker Office Com add-in was causing the problem. If you have installed such an add-in, disable it and then see if you can print the spreadsheet. If yes, remove that add-in.
The following steps will help you disable COM Add-ins in Excel: Read: Fix Excel keeps flickering on Windows 11/10.
5] Remove and add your printer again
Sometimes, removing and adding the printer again fixes the printer-related issues. Completely remove or uninstall your printer and then add it again. Check if this helps. You can completely remove a printer from your Windows 11/10 machine via:
SettingsThe Control PanelPrint Server PropertiesThe Command PromptThe Registry Editor
6] Repair Office
If nothing helps you, repair Microsoft Office. Sometimes, the problem occurs due to corrupted Office files. If this is the case with you, repairing Microsoft Office will fix the problem. First, run a Quick Repair. If this does not fix the problem, run an Online Office Repair. Read: Microsoft Excel displays High CPU usage.
Fix Excel printing problems in Windows 11/10
Above, we have seen the solutions to fix the problem when Excel does not print on receiving the print command from the user. Now, let’s see some common printing problems that you may experience in Microsoft Excel. Sometimes, when we print a spreadsheet from Excel, we do not get the desired printout. Some of you might have experienced such a problem. Such types of problems occur when the print settings are incorrectly configured before printing a spreadsheet. Here are some tweaks that you can do to avoid some common printing problems in Microsoft Excel.
1] Fit your spreadsheet on one page
Some of you might have experienced that despite configuring the correct page settings, Excel prints a spreadsheet on more than one page. This problem can be fixed by changing the scaling in Excel. If you want to print all the rows or columns on one page in Excel, you have to change the No Scaling option in Excel to Fit all rows on one page and Fit all columns on one page option respectively.
2] Set the print area in Excel
If you want to print selected cells in your spreadsheet, you can set the print area for the same. The steps to set the print area are as follows:
Now, when you give the print command to Excel, it will print only the selected cells on a page. You can extend the print area by adding more cells to it. If the cells that you want to add are adjacent to the existing print area, Excel will print them on the same page (if space is available). If the selected cells that you want to add are not adjacent to the existing print area, Excel will print them on another page, no matter whether the space is available on the existing print area or not. To add cells to the existing print area, follow the steps below:
To clear the print area, go to “Page Layout > Print Area > Clear Print Area.”
3] Configure print settings before printing the spreadsheet
You can configure the print settings before printing your spreadsheet. To do so, go to “File > Print” or simply press the Ctrl + P keys. There you will see different print settings. You can change the page orientation (landscape or portrait), select your paper size such as Letter, Legal, A4, A3, etc., change page margins, etc. Every time you make a change to the print settings, Excel will show you the print preview in the preview window.
Why can I print from Word but not from Excel?
If you are able to print from Word but not from Excel, there might be a problematic add-in in Excel. You can confirm this by opening Excel in the Safe Mode. If you will be able to print in the Safe Mode, one of the add-ins is the culprit. Now, disable add-ins installed in Excel one by one. Print your spreadsheet every time you disable an add-in. This will help you identify the problematic add-in. Other solutions that you can try are removing and adding the printer again, updating your printer driver, etc.
Why won’t Excel print all the columns?
To print all the columns on one page in Excel, you have to configure the page settings before printing your spreadsheet. The steps for the same are as follows:
After that, you will be able to print all the columns on one page in Excel.
Print preview is not available because Microsoft Excel could not connect to the selected printer
If you see the “Print preview is not available because Microsoft Excel could not connect to the selected printer” error message while printing a spreadsheet from Excel, make sure that your computer is running on the latest version of the Windows operating system. Open Windows 11/10 Settings and check for updates. If updates are available, download and install them. We also suggest you update Microsoft Office manually and see if it helps. If the problem persists, repair Microsoft Office.
Cannot print from Excel, Not enough memory
Some of you might have seen the “Not enough memory” error message while printing a spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel. The error message is self-explanatory. When the printer from which you are printing the jobs does not have enough memory, you will see this error. However, there are other causes too that trigger this error. To fix this issue, you can try the following fixes. Let’s see all these fixes in detail.
1] Copy the data from your spreadsheet to a new spreadsheet
This method has fixed the issue of some users. You can also try this. Copy the data from your spreadsheet to a new spreadsheet and see if it helps.
2] Change your default printer
If the problem still persists, change your default printer. You can set any virtual printer as a default printer, such as Microsoft Print to PDF, Microsoft XPS Document Writer, etc.
3] Update your printer driver
Sometimes the problem persists due to the outdated or malfunctioned printer driver. If this is the case with you, updating the printer driver will solve your problem. To do so, follow the steps written below: If this does not work, visit the official website of your printer manufacturer and download the latest version of your printer driver from there. Now, run the installer file to install the latest version of your printer driver manually.
4] Print in Draft Mode
For some users, printing the spreadsheet in the Draft mode fixed their problem. You can also try this and see if it helps. To do so, you have to change the Fast mode to Draft mode. By default, the print quality is set to Fast mode. Open your print quality settings and change the Fast mode to Draft mode.
5] Save your Excel file in ODS format
Another effective solution to fix this problem is to save the Excel spreadsheet in ODS (OpenDocument Spreadsheet) format. The steps to do this are as follows:
Now, open the ODS file and print it. The problem should not appear this time.
6] Reset your printer memory
If your printer is running low on memory, resetting its memory will help fix the issue. Resetting the printer memory will clear the print jobs in the queue. To do so, follow the steps given below: If the above method did not help, cold reset your printer. The method to cold reset printers is different for the printers of different brands. Therefore, you have to refer to the user manual of your printer to know the correct way to cold reset your printer.
7] Clear the Print Spooler
In Windows, Print Spooler is a service that stores the printing jobs temporarily. If Excel is showing the “Not enough memory” message while printing a spreadsheet, clearing the Print Spooler may fix the problem. The steps to clear the Print Spooler are as follows:
8] Repair Office
Check if you are getting the same error message in other Office apps, like Word. If not, some of the Excel files may be corrupted. To fix this problem, run an online repair for Microsoft Office. Hope this helps. Read next: Excel freezing, crashing, or not responding.
