Where’s the Doggone Ruler in Excel 2010?

You’re getting ready to print your document and you’re trying to use Excel‘s built-in ruler to get a sense of the size of the printed area – but the doggone ruler is missing! This article describes which views support seeing the ruler, where you go to find the ruler configuration settings, how to display the ruler.

If you’re moving to Excel 2010 from any Excel version prior to 2007, you’ll notice that the pull-down selections have been replaced by tabs on the “ribbon.” The leftmost ribbon tab is labeled File and is distinctive by its colored background. Each tab has a collection of groups (e.g., the Home tab has groups called Clipboard, Font, Alignment, Number, Styles, Cells and Editing).

Why can’t I see the ruler?

Not seeing the ruler in MS Excel 2010 is usually caused by one of two circumstances:

1) You’re not using the Page Layout workbook view. The only view in MS Excel that can display the ruler is the Page Layout view. To set the Page Layout view, on the ribbon, find the View tab, and then the Workbook View group [the left-most group]. Click thee Page Layout view.
After you click the Page Layout view, while still in the View tab, look one group to the right and you’ll see the Show group; the Ruler check-box is in here.

2) You’re using the Page Layout workbook view, but the Ruler check-box is not selected.

Make the ruler visible by going to the ribbon View tab, and finding the Show group (2^nd from the left on the View tab). Simply click the Ruler check-box so that the checkmark is visible.

How can I change the ruler settings?

Configuring the ruler in Excel 2010 requires you to use the special File tab (the File tab is the left-most tab; this is sometimes called the “backstage” area of the worksheet).

From the File tab, click Options (just above Exit at the bottom), and then in the left-side column, click Advanced.

You’ll need to scroll down to the 6^th section on the page (i.e., after “Editing options,” Cut, copy, and paste,” “Image Size and Quality,” “Print,” and “Chart”) that will be Display. Here you can set the ruler units (by using the Ruler units pull‑down that offers selections of “Default Units,” “Inches,” “Centimeters,” or “Millimeters.”

Remember to click the OK button at the bottom of the window to save your settings.

Now, go do something nice for someone!