How to delete extra empty or blank pages in a worksheet in Excel?
When you work with Excel worksheets that contain extra blank pages, these unnecessary pages are often included when printing, leading to wasted paper and cluttered reports. This can happen if your worksheet has trailing empty rows or columns, or unused print areas that extend beyond your intended data. Especially in multi-page documents or when preparing files for professional distribution, printing blank pages can look unprofessional and be confusing for the recipient. To maintain clean printouts and improve worksheet management, there are several practical methods for removing or bypassing these blank pages. This article introduces a selection of both manual and automated solutions to help you delete extra empty pages and streamline your worksheet for printing and sharing.
Delete extra empty pages in a worksheet with setting print area function
Delete extra empty pages in a worksheet with Kutools for Excel
Excel Formula - Identify and address blank rows or columns before deletion
VBA Code - Automate deleting all blank rows and columns
Delete extra empty pages in a worksheet with setting print area function
If your worksheet only spans a few pages, where some are blank, you can prevent Excel from printing these unwanted pages by specifically setting your print area to only include the pages that contain data. This approach is especially suitable for presentations or reports with a limited number of pages to manage, and when you have clear knowledge of which pages hold relevant information.
Before proceeding, make sure to review your worksheet in Print Preview (File > Print) to identify which pages are truly blank and which ones contain useful data, as sometimes what appears blank may have invisible content (such as spaces, formatting only, or formulas returning empty strings).
1. Hold down the Ctrl key and select the worksheet pages that contain the content you want to print. With the relevant areas selected, go to the Page Layout tab, click Print Area > Set Print Area. This will limit the printout only to the selected range, ensuring blank pages are ignored. See screenshot:
When you proceed to print, only the specified range will appear in the printout, and any extra empty pages outside the print area will be excluded. This method is quick and reliable for small to medium-sized worksheets, but for documents with many pages or when data is spread inconsistently, it may become cumbersome to manually select every needed area. Also, remember to clear the print area when you want to expand or change your worksheet later (Page Layout > Print Area > Clear Print Area).
Delete extra empty pages in a worksheet with Kutools for Excel
For larger worksheets with numerous pages or files where blank rows and columns are scattered throughout, manually adjusting the print area can be inefficient and error-prone. In such cases, it is best to condense the worksheet itself by removing all blank rows and columns, which will directly prevent blank pages from being generated during printing. Kutools for Excel offers a user-friendly utility called Delete Blank Rows (and a similar feature for deleting blank columns), enabling users to quickly clean their worksheets without complicated manual checking.
Before applying Kutools for Excel, please download and install it firstly.
1. Click Kutools > Delete > Delete Blank Rows > In Active Sheet. See screenshot:
2. A dialog box will pop up, showing the total number of blank rows removed. Click OK to complete the process.
3. To further condense the worksheet and ensure no blank pages remain, repeat the process for columns: choose Kutools > Delete Blank Columns in the active sheet. Configure as needed in the prompt dialog to remove empty columns efficiently.
After removing all blank rows and columns, your worksheet's layout will be compressed and any potential blank pages will be eliminated. If your dataset includes sometimes-intermittent empty cells rather than fully empty rows or columns, review your settings in the Kutools dialog to ensure only truly empty rows or columns are deleted, preventing accidental data loss. Kutools also supports batch operations, making it suitable for large and complex Excel files.
If you want to have a free trial (30-day) of this utility, please click to download it, and then go to apply the operation according above steps.
Excel Formula - Identify and address blank rows or columns before deletion
For users managing large datasets and wanting a systematic approach to locate and eventually remove blank rows or columns, Excel formulas can be used as a helper method before actually deleting anything. By inserting a helper column or row that uses formulas like COUNTA or ISBLANK, you can quickly spot which parts of your worksheet are empty and safe to remove. This technique is transparent and gives you full control over what gets deleted, preventing accidental loss of important data.
- If you suspect some rows may visually appear blank but contain formulas or hidden content,
COUNTAwill reveal actual non-empty cells. - This method is suitable when preparing large datasets for printing or archiving, and you want to carefully review blank data before deletion.
1. In a new helper column (e.g., column D), enter the following formula in D2 to check for blank rows:
=COUNTA(A2:C2)This example assumes your data in each row spans columns A to C. Adjust the range as needed according to your worksheet layout. The formula will return a count of non-empty cells per row.
2. Copy the formula down the helper column alongside your data range. Any row where the result is 0 is completely blank and can be targeted for deletion.
3. To select and delete all blank rows identified by 0 in the helper column:
- Apply a filter to your worksheet (Home > Sort & Filter > Filter), filter by 0 in the helper column, then select and remove those rows.
- To identify blank columns, use a similar approach in a helper row, e.g.,
=COUNTA(A1:A10)in a new row to assess each column’s blankness.
Tips: Always check for hidden formulas or formatted cells that may falsely appear empty. When deleting, ensure you are not losing necessary structure or hidden data in your worksheet.
VBA Code - Automate deleting all blank rows and columns
For advanced users or those who regularly deal with large Excel files, automating the clean-up of blank rows and columns using VBA can save significant time. This method excels in scenarios where the worksheet structure is well-defined and you want to streamline the process across entire sheets quickly.
Typical use cases include preparing worksheets before printing, removing residual blanks after importing data, or cleaning up repetitive reports. Be aware that using VBA is irreversible unless you back up your file first, so always save your work before running new scripts.
1. Open Excel, then press Alt + F11 to open the Visual Basic for Applications editor. In the VBA window, click Insert > Module, and paste the following code into the new module:
Sub DeleteBlankRowsAndColumns()
Dim ws As Worksheet
Dim rng As Range
Dim LastRow As Long, LastCol As Long
Dim i As Long
On Error Resume Next
xTitleId = "KutoolsforExcel"
Set ws = ActiveSheet
With ws
LastRow = .UsedRange.Rows(.UsedRange.Rows.Count).Row
LastCol = .UsedRange.Columns(.UsedRange.Columns.Count).Column
' Delete blank rows from bottom up
For i = LastRow To 1 Step -1
If Application.WorksheetFunction.CountA(.Rows(i)) = 0 Then
.Rows(i).Delete
End If
Next i
' Delete blank columns from right to left
For i = LastCol To 1 Step -1
If Application.WorksheetFunction.CountA(.Columns(i)) = 0 Then
.Columns(i).Delete
End If
Next i
End With
End Sub2 Click the 
Run button to execute the code. The macro will quickly search and delete all blank rows and columns in the active worksheet, helping you condense your worksheet and remove extra blank pages from printouts.
Tips: Double-check your worksheet after running the macro to ensure only unwanted blank rows and columns were deleted. If you have merged cells or data split across sections, inspect the results and consider running on a copy if unsure.
By using the above methods, you can flexibly choose the most suitable way for your needs—whether you prefer simplicity, advanced automation, or targeted manual operations. For complex or regularly updated worksheets, combining two or more methods can often yield the best results. If you encounter issues, such as persistent blank pages even after cleanup, check for hidden objects, leftover formatting, or print area settings that may still trigger unwanted pages. Consider saving a copy of your file before making bulk deletions, especially when using VBA or add-ins, to safeguard your important data.
Related articles:
Best Office Productivity Tools
Supercharge Your Excel Skills with Kutools for Excel, and Experience Efficiency Like Never Before. Kutools for Excel Offers Over 300 Advanced Features to Boost Productivity and Save Time. Click Here to Get The Feature You Need The Most...
Office Tab Brings Tabbed interface to Office, and Make Your Work Much Easier
- Enable tabbed editing and reading in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, Access, Visio and Project.
- Open and create multiple documents in new tabs of the same window, rather than in new windows.
- Increases your productivity by 50%, and reduces hundreds of mouse clicks for you every day!
All Kutools add-ins. One installer
Kutools for Office suite bundles add-ins for Excel, Word, Outlook & PowerPoint plus Office Tab Pro, which is ideal for teams working across Office apps.
- All-in-one suite — Excel, Word, Outlook & PowerPoint add-ins + Office Tab Pro
- One installer, one license — set up in minutes (MSI-ready)
- Works better together — streamlined productivity across Office apps
- 30-day full-featured trial — no registration, no credit card
- Best value — save vs buying individual add-in