Page breaks decide where Excel starts a new printed page. Excel adds automatic page breaks based on paper size, margins, and scaling, and you or someone else may have added manual breaks that split your data in awkward places. This guide shows how to remove all manual page breaks at once in Excel 2013 (the steps are the same in later versions), remove individual breaks, hide the dotted page break lines, and control page breaks with scaling instead.
Quick Answer
Go to the Page Layout tab, click Breaks, and choose Reset All Page Breaks. This removes every manual page break on the sheet. Automatic breaks remain, but you can control them with Scale to Fit settings.
Manual vs. Automatic Page Breaks
| Manual | Automatic | |
|---|---|---|
| Created by | You (Insert Page Break) or a template | Excel, based on page size and scaling |
| Appearance in Page Break Preview | Solid blue line | Dashed blue line |
| Can be deleted? | Yes | No, but you can move them or change scaling |
Remove All Manual Page Breaks
- Click the worksheet with the page breaks.
- Go to Page Layout > Breaks.
- Click Reset All Page Breaks.
Page breaks are set per sheet. To reset several sheets, hold Ctrl and click their tabs first, then reset, and right-click a tab and choose Ungroup Sheets afterward.
Remove a Single Page Break
- Select the cell directly below a horizontal break, or to the right of a vertical break.
- Go to Page Layout > Breaks > Remove Page Break.
You can also go to View > Page Break Preview and drag a solid blue line off the edge of the print area to delete it.
Use Page Break Preview
Click View > Page Break Preview to see how your sheet will print. Drag blue lines to move breaks. Dragging an automatic (dashed) break turns it into a manual one. Return to normal with View > Normal.
Control Automatic Page Breaks With Scaling
- Go to Page Layout > Scale to Fit.
- Set Width to 1 page to fit all columns on one page wide.
- Set Height to Automatic (or a number of pages).
Or, in File > Print, choose Fit All Columns on One Page. Changing orientation to Landscape or reducing margins also reduces page breaks.
Hide the Dotted Page Break Lines
After you print or preview, Excel shows dotted lines in Normal view. To hide them:
- Go to File > Options > Advanced.
- Scroll to Display options for this worksheet.
- Uncheck Show page breaks and click OK.
Closing and reopening the workbook also clears them.
Troubleshooting
Reset All Page Breaks is grayed out
There may be no manual breaks, or the sheet is protected. Check Review > Unprotect Sheet.
Breaks come back after resetting
Those are automatic breaks. Use Scale to Fit, change orientation, or adjust the print area.
Print area is wrong
Go to Page Layout > Print Area > Clear Print Area, then set a new one if needed.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I remove page breaks in Excel quickly?
Use Page Layout > Breaks > Reset All Page Breaks.
Can I remove automatic page breaks?
Not directly, but scaling to fit fewer pages removes them in practice.
Do page breaks affect the data?
No. They only affect printing and page layout views.
Summary
- Use Page Layout > Breaks > Reset All Page Breaks.
- Remove individual breaks with Remove Page Break or by dragging in Page Break Preview.
- Use Scale to Fit to control automatic breaks.
- Uncheck Show page breaks to hide dotted lines.
Kermit Matthews is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with more than a decade of experience writing technology guides. He has a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Computer Science and has spent much of his professional career in IT management.
He specializes in writing content about iPhones, Android devices, Microsoft Office, and many other popular applications and devices.