1. column
  2. TECHNOLOGY Q&A

More on Excel Headers and Footers

BY STANLEY ZAROWIN

Please note: This item is from our archives and was published in 2000. It is provided for historical reference. The content may be out of date and links may no longer function.

Related

No Results

TOPICS

    Uncategorized Article
The July Technology Q&A column told how to automatically include an Excel header or footer that carries the workbook’s path and filename (such as C: clientfirst quarter results ). We noted that although such headers and footers can be created easily in Word, Excel lacks such a built-in function. However, we reported that we had found an add-on utility that does the job automatically. It’s available free from JWalk and Associates ( www.j-walk.com/ss/excel/files/addpath.htm ).

As a result of that item, many readers were surprised to discover that it was possible to create headers and footers for filenames and path in Word, and they asked us how it was done. Here’s the story:

Begin by clicking on the View icon in the toolbar and then Header and Footer . When the Header and Footer toolbar opens, click on Insert AutoText and a menu of choices will drop down. You have, among several options, a choice of Filename and path or just Filename . Click on either one and the header or footer will be formatted automatically, as shown in the screen shot below.

Create a footer or header in Word that contains the document’s filename and path or just the filename.

In addition, scores of readers e-mailed us about other Excel methods for including a file’s path and name in the body of the spreadsheet; while these processes are not automatic and may not put the name or path in the header and footer—but in the spreadsheet itself—they’re good alternatives.

The most common method begins by picking a cell position for displaying filename and path and typing =CELL(“filename”) in that cell. Then, when you’re ready to print, click on File, Page Setup and select the Sheet tab and check the Rows to repeat at top box , as shown below.

An alternative way to include a filename and path in an Excel workbook is to put the filename in a cell…
…and this line will appear at the top of each worksheet.

Another way is to go to the toolbar and click on File, Page Setup , the Header/Footer tab and then the Custom Header box. Then fill in the path and filename and click OK.

Yet another way was submitted by Monika Smith, a CPA at Grant Thornton. She suggests selecting a cell where you want the filename and path to be displayed, going to the toolbar and clicking on Insert and on the fx Function. The screen will open and default to cell as your function name, as shown in the screen shot below.

Another alternative to adding the filename and path to an Excel document.

That will open another window. In the space for info_type enter the path and filename. Then, when you print the worksheet, it will look like this:

Advertisement

With all these suggestions, there should no reason ever to omit a path and filename for every spreadsheet.