How to Save Excel as PDF with gridlines

(Note: This guide on how to save Excel as PDF is suitable for all Excel versions including Office 365)

Imagine a scenario where you have to send your Excel workbook to other recipients within or outside your organization. In some cases, the end user might not be able to view the workbook. In other cases, your workbook might appear with different formatting when the file is opened with different software or operating system. 

In such cases, you can convert your Excel workbook into a PDF file and save them. In this article, I will tell you how to convert and save Excel as a PDF file.

You’ll Learn:

• How to Convert and Save Excel as PDF?
  • Using the Print Option
  • Using the Save As Option
  • Using the Export Option
  • Using the Quick Access Toolbar
  • Using Online Converters

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How to Convert and Save Excel as PDF?

You can easily convert Excel into a PDF file using Excel or you can use any third-party online converters. Let us now see how to convert and save your Excel workbook in detail. 

Using the Print Option

The File menu in Excel has a variety of ways to convert a workbook to a PDF. One of them is by using the Print option. This is one way to convert and save them. 

• To convert your Excel workbook to PDF, navigate to File.

• Click on Print in the main menu headers.

• From the Printer drop-down in the Print window, select Microsoft Print to PDF.

This way of converting an Excel file offers you a variety of customizations and modifications that only apply to the saved PDF and not to the original Excel file.

From the options, you can choose to convert only the active sheet or other worksheets. Additionally, you can also adjust the margin and scaling of the Excel sheet. You can also see the preview of your settings in the preview pane to the right. 

• Choose the customization which suits your purpose and click on Print.

• This opens a dialog box asking you to select the location and name of the file. Click on Save.

• This saves the Excel file as a PDF. 

Now, you can navigate to the saved location to view the PDF file or share them with your desired recipients.

Note: One additional advantage when using this method is that you can convert and save Excel as PDF without actually having to save the workbook. 

Using the Save As Option

Another way to save Excel as PDF is by using the Save As option.

• After creating the Excel worksheet using necessary data, navigate to File.

• Click on Save As. This shows the Save As pane towards the right. 

• Navigate to the location you want to save the file and rename the file.

• In the file format dropdown below the name text box, click on it, and select *.pdf.

• Now, click Save. This saves the Excel file as a PDF in your desired location.

Note: When you use this option, the Excel files are converted into PDF with the default formatting assigned to the pages/print settings. 

Since there is no way to preview the layout and customization of the converted file, it is better to check the page layout formatting and change them manually if needed. 

To change them, navigate to the Page Layout main menu. Under the Page Setup section, customize the worksheet to your desired specifications based on margin, orientation, print area, and other personalization options.

For additional settings, click on the extend button which opens a Page Setup dialog box. You can change the orientation of the page, set margins, number the page, and set the gridlines to appear in your converted PDF file.

Also Read:

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Using the Export Option

Another way to convert and save Excel as PDF is by using the Export option. The export option too, like others can be found in the File main menu.

• To convert an Excel to PDF, go to File. 

• Click on Export. In the Export pane, click on Create PDF/XPS Document. 

• This opens a new dialog box. Choose the location and rename the file. Make sure the Save as type: is PDF. You can choose to open the file after publishing and the quality of the PDF file you need.

• Click on Publish. This exports the selected Excel sheet into a PDF file.

Using the Quick Access Toolbar

Converting an Excel file to PDF is a very common instance that is used for various purposes, ranging from institutional to corporate levels. If you regularly need to convert and save Excel as PDF, there is an even easier way compared to the above options. By using the Quick Access Toolbar, you can straightaway add the option that helps you convert Excel as PDF with the click of a button.

• First, enable your Quick Access Toolbar by clicking the Ribbon Display Options and selecting the Show Quick Access Toolbar. 

• Now, click on the Customize drop-down and select More Commands.

• This opens the Excel Options dialog box. From the Choose commands from: drop-down, select All Commands. Scroll down and select Publish as PDF or XPS.

• Click on Add. You can see the buttons added to the Quick Access toolbar in the right pane. 

• Click OK.

• This adds the selected button to the Quick Access Toolbar. 

Instead of navigating to the File menu and exporting every time you want to convert a file, just click on the PDF button in the Quick Access Toolbar to save the Excel file as a PDF.

Using Online Converters

In case your operating system does not have the right version of Excel to open the file, you can use third-party websites to convert them into PDFs easily. All you need is an internet connection.

The process to convert and save Excel as PDF using online converters is straightforward. 

• Just open their website and navigate to the Convert Excel to PDF section. 

• Drag and drop the file or open the file location and select the Excel file.

• Click on Convert. 

• This saves and downloads the PDF file to your local drive.

Some of the online converters to help convert your Excel to PDF are:

• Adobe 
• Freepdfconvert
• Smallpdf
• pdf2go
• ilovepdf
• pdf4me

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Frequently Asked Questions

How to save Excel as PDF with the same formatting?

When you use the Save As option or Export option from the File main menu, Microsoft Excel converts the file into PDF with the same formatting as the original Excel sheet. This includes the margins, orientations, and layouts.

How to save the Excel File as a PDF with gridlines?

When you convert an Excel file to PDF, by default they appear without any gridlines. To enable the gridlines, click on the Page Setup option in the Print main menu or the Page Layout main menu. In the Page Setup dialog box, under the Sheets tab, check the checkbox for Gridlines.

How to save the Excel file converted to PDF in landscape orientation?

In the Page Layouts main menu, under the Page Setup section, click on the dropdown from Orientation and select Landscape. By default, your orientation will be Portrait. But, when it comes to an Excel file, choosing your orientation as landscape houses more cells and gives an overall aesthetic look to the pages.

Closing Thoughts

In this article, we saw how to convert and save Excel as PDF in 5 easy ways. You can use the print option, the save as option, or the export option to help you convert the Excel sheet from the file menu. 

If you need to convert them frequently, you can add the export option to Quick Access Toolbar. And, you can also use online converters to help you convert an Excel file to PDF. Choose the method that suits your purpose the best.

Please visit our free resources center for more high-quality Excel guides. 

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Simon Calder

Chris “Simon” Calder was working as a Project Manager in IT for one of Los Angeles’ most prestigious cultural institutions, LACMA. He taught himself to use Microsoft Project from a giant textbook and hated every moment of it. Online learning was in its infancy then, but he spotted an opportunity and made an online MS Project course - the rest, as they say, is history!

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