Difficulty Level: Advanced
Excel Version: XP
Assumed Knowledge: Beginner

 

 

The aim of the tutorial is to:

 

show you how to insert, amend and delete headers and footers in an Excel worksheet.

Inserting Headers and Footers

A header or footer appears on every worksheet of an Excel book but does not form part of the worksheet content. A header (such as the date or author of the worksheet) appears inside the top margin, and a footer (such as the path or address to the saved worksheet) appears inside the bottom margin.

To insert a Header or Footer:

1. Click on View in the menu bar.
2. In the pop-down menu click on Header and Footer.
   The Page Setup box will appear on the screen with the Header/Footer tab uppermost:



3. Click on the button Custom Header... to insert a Header or click on the button Custom Footer... to insert a Footer. Either the Header box or Footer box will appear on the screen. Both boxes are exactly the same except for the title so only the Header box is shown here:



4. Click on the window representing the left, centre or right section depending on where at the top of the worksheet you want a header to appear, or where at the bottom you want the footer to appear.
5. Enter the header or footer using the keyboard and the buttons in the box.
6. Click OK.

NOTE: A worksheet can have up to three headers and/or footers with one in each section.

To view the header or footer (when the worksheet contains content):

1. Click on the Print Preview button in the standard toolbar.
   The Header will appear at the top of the worksheet and the footer at the bottom.
2. Click on Close to return to the worksheet.

To change the font of a header or footer:

1. Open up either the Header box or the Footer box.
2. Select the Header or Footer text.
3. Click on the Font button
   The Font box will appear on the screen.
4. Select the Font, Font Style, Size, Underline and Effects.
5. Click OK to close the Font box.
6. In the Header box or Footer box click on OK to close this box.
7. In the Page Setup box click on OK to close this box.

To insert a page number in the header or footer:

1. Open up either the Header box or the Footer box.
2. Select the left, centre or right header section.
3. Click on the Page Number button
4. Click OK to close the Header box or the Footer box.

To insert the number of pages in the header or footer:

1. Open up either the Header box or the Footer box.
2. Select the left, centre or right header section.
3. Click on the Page Numbers button
4. Click OK to close the Header box or the Footer box.

To insert the date as a header or footer:

1. Open up either the Header box or the Footer box.
2. Select the left, centre or right header section.
3. Click on the Date button
4. Click OK to close the Header box or the Footer box.

To insert the time as a header or footer:

1. Open up either the Header box or the Footer box.
2. Select the left, centre or right header section.
3. Click on the Time button
4. Click OK to close the Header box or the Footer box.

To insert the path or address of a worksheet as a header or footer:

1. Open up either the Header box or the Footer box.
2. Select the left, centre or right header section.
3. Click on the File Path button
4. Click OK to close the Header box or the Footer box.

To insert the file name of the worksheet as a header or footer:

1. Open up either the Header box or the Footer box.
2. Select the left, centre or right header section.
3. Click on the File Name button
4. Click OK to close the Header box or the Footer box.

To insert the tab name of the worksheet as a header or footer:

1. Open up either the Header box or the Footer box.
2. Select the left, centre or right header section.
3. Click on the Tab Name button
4. Click OK to close the Header box or the Footer box.

To insert a picture as a header or footer:

1. Open up either the Header box or the Footer box.
2. Select the left, centre or right header section.
3. Click on the Insert Picture button
   The Insert Picture box will appear on the screen.
4. Select the file to insert.
5. Click on Insert.
   The Insert Picture box will disappear from the screen.
6. Click OK to close the Header box or the Footer box.

To format a picture in the header or footer using the Header box or Footer box:

1. Open up either the Header box or the Footer box.
2. Select the left, centre or right header section.
3. Click on the Format Picture button
   The Format Picture box will appear on the screen.
4. Format the Size and the Picture via the appropriate tabs.
5. Click on OK to close the Format Picture box.
6. Click OK to close the Header box or the Footer box.

 

Exercises

For exercises to practice the above click here.

 

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