You want to send a quote or invoice as a PDF, but the right side of the table gets cut off, or one table spreads over several pages. Page problems are the most common trouble when turning Excel into a PDF. This guide covers how to convert Excel to PDF, the settings that fit a sheet on one page, and how to convert without Excel or on a phone.
Use Excel to PDFFree, no sign-up. Your files stay on your device.
| Method | What you need | Is the file uploaded? | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Excel’s Export or Save As | Excel (Windows or Mac) | No | You have Excel and want fine control |
| Google Sheets | A Google account | Yes, to Google Drive | You don’t have Excel |
| Our Excel to PDF tool | Just a browser (any device) | No (processed on your device) | No Excel, on a phone, or sheets with prices or personal details |
In Excel for Windows, choose File → Export → Create PDF/XPS Document → Create PDF/XPS, pick where to save it and click Publish. You can also use Save As and set the file type to PDF. In Excel for Mac, choose File → Save As and set File Format to PDF.
Check File → Print first: the PDF uses the same page settings as printing, so the print preview shows exactly how the PDF will be split into pages.
In File → Print, change the setting that says “No Scaling”:
Setting Page Layout → Scale to Fit to Width: 1 page and Height: Automatic does the same. If many columns make the text too small, switch Page Layout → Orientation to Landscape or use a larger paper size such as A3.
View → Page Break Preview shows the page boundaries as blue lines. Drag the dotted blue line to the edge of the table to make it one page.
If a print area was set earlier, columns and rows added later aren’t included in the PDF. Clear it with Page Layout → Print Area → Clear Print Area, or set it again.
Borders, formatting or spaces left in empty cells outside the table make those cells part of the page, creating blank pages. Delete the unused rows and columns before saving.
When a column is too narrow, numbers appear as “###”, and the PDF shows the same. Widen the column or turn on Wrap Text.
In Excel’s Export, open Options and choose “Entire workbook” to put every sheet in one PDF. To include only some sheets, Ctrl-click their tabs and choose “Active sheet(s)”.
Our Excel to PDF tool also combines several sheets into one PDF when you select them.
Upload the Excel file to Google Drive, open it with Google Sheets and choose File → Download → PDF (.pdf). In the settings, set Scale to “Fit to width” to fit the width on one page. This uploads the file to Google Drive.
Our Excel to PDF tool converts in the browser on Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android, even without Excel. Your file is never uploaded to a server; it’s processed on your own device, so sheets with prices or personal details stay private.
Print areas, margins and orientation set in Excel are used as they are. Japanese paper sizes B4 and B5 (JIS) are available for forms made for them, and Japanese CSV files in Shift_JIS are read without garbled characters. Excel files received by email or LINE can be converted on a phone in Safari or Chrome, with no app.
To stamp a Japanese hanko on a quote or invoice, use Digital Hanko Stamp. To combine it with other documents, use Merge PDF, and if it’s too big to email, use Compress PDF.
A. In File → Print, choose “Fit Sheet on One Page” or “Fit All Columns on One Page”, then save as PDF.
A. The table is wider than the paper, or an old print area is still set. Choose “Fit All Columns on One Page” or set the print area again.
A. Yes. Choose “Entire workbook” in Excel’s Export options, or select several sheets in Excel to PDF.
A. Yes. Use Google Sheets, or the Excel to PDF tool in your browser.
A. Open Excel to PDF in Safari or Chrome and select the Excel file. No app is needed.
A. Yes. Excel to PDF supports CSV and detects Shift_JIS and UTF-8 automatically, so Japanese text isn’t garbled.