Printing Problems

How to Set Different Page Orientations in an Excel Worksheet

WPS Editor Sep 28, 2026 869 views

Question details

The user wants to print certain pages of an Excel document in landscape orientation while keeping other pages in portrait orientation.

How to Set Different Page Orientations in an Excel Worksheet

Product: Microsoft Excel
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Preparing a comprehensive Excel report for printing where different data sections require different page layouts (e.g., wide tables mixed with narrow summaries).
Observed behavior: Excel applies the page orientation setting to the entire active worksheet or print area, preventing the use of mixed orientations within a single continuous worksheet page-break sequence.

Before you start

Because Excel applies page layout settings at the worksheet level, review your data and identify exactly which tables or charts require a landscape view before adjusting your layout.

Solution 1Recommended

Separate Data into Different Worksheets

Since orientation is applied to the entire worksheet, the most reliable method is to place your portrait and landscape data onto separate worksheet tabs.

Excel does not allow a single worksheet to contain both portrait and landscape pages. By splitting your data across multiple sheets, you can assign a unique page orientation to each sheet and print the entire workbook at once.

Add a new worksheet

Click the '+' icon at the bottom of your Excel window to create a new worksheet tab.

Move the landscape data

Select the data or charts that require a wider layout, cut or copy them, and paste them into the newly created worksheet.

Change orientation

Go to the Page Layout tab on the ribbon. Click on 'Orientation' and select 'Landscape' for the new sheet. Ensure your original sheet remains set to 'Portrait'.

Print the workbook

Go to File > Print. Under the Settings dropdown, change 'Print Active Sheets' to 'Print Entire Workbook'. Excel will print the pages sequentially with their respective orientations.

Seamless Printing: When printing the entire workbook, Excel automatically handles the transition between portrait and landscape pages for you.

Solution 2

Print Separate Areas Manually

If you cannot move data to separate worksheets, you must manually define print areas and change the orientation for each individual print job.

Print Formatting with WPS

Use WPS Spreadsheet for Flexible Page Layouts

WPS Office provides highly compatible and easy-to-use page setup tools. You can quickly manage worksheets, customize print areas, and adjust orientations to print your data exactly as needed without layout conflicts.

1. Organize your data: Open your spreadsheet in WPS Office. Move your landscape-oriented data to a separate sheet by clicking the '+' icon at the bottom of the screen.
2. Set sheet orientations: Navigate to the Page Layout tab. Click 'Orientation' to set Portrait or Landscape individually for each worksheet tab.
3. Print the full document: Go to Menu > Print. Under 'Print what', select 'Entire workbook' to seamlessly print the mixed orientations in one job.

Seamlessly open, edit, and print Microsoft Excel (.xlsx) files.Intuitive Page Layout tab for quick orientation and print area adjustments.Built-in Print Preview to easily verify portrait and landscape layouts before printing.Completely free and lightweight alternative to Microsoft Office.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why does changing the orientation affect my whole Excel sheet?

In Excel, page setup properties such as margins and orientation are saved at the worksheet level. Therefore, any change applied from the Page Layout tab affects all printed pages generated from that specific active worksheet tab.

Can I have landscape and portrait pages in a single Word document instead?

Yes. Unlike Excel, word processors like Microsoft Word or WPS Writer allow you to insert section breaks (Page Layout > Breaks > Section Breaks). This lets you mix landscape and portrait pages within the exact same document.

How do I group columns in an Excel bar chart while leaving a gap?

Column grouping in a chart is a formatting task separate from page orientation. To group the first three columns of a four-column chart and leave a gap before the fourth, insert an empty row in your source data range exactly where you want the visual gap to appear.

Document & File Issues