Excel adding page breaks to some documents for only 2 users

Lonely IT Guy 20 Reputation points
2026-10-22T18:58:27.5333333+00:00

I tried to replace a couple of users computers with new ones and discovered that any sheet they open that stems from 2 particular templates, now has 50+ page breaks instead of just the 4 or 5 in the templates. These page breaks are not able to be removed or moved in any way but the document can still be edited. Upon further testing, I found that this only affects these 2 users on any computer that they have first signed into within the past few months. Resetting their profiles does not correct it. While they are using Office 2019, I did try upgrading to 365 and still the problem persists. We do not have any GPOs that affect Office. Nor any that affect only these 2 users. We are using Windows 11. Other users can open these document just fine.

Anyone encounter this before?

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For business | Windows
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Answer accepted by question author
Kai-L 21,375 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
2026-10-22T19:37:43.5366667+00:00

Hello IT,

As a forum moderator, I am not able to review the printer and profile configuration on your devices to diagnose and fix this directly. My role here is limited to general guidance you can apply from your side. Based on your description, the extra lines are most likely automatic page breaks rather than breaks saved in the templates. Excel calculates automatic breaks from the active printer's paper size, margins, scaling and driver. Since the issue follows these two users to any PC they sign in to, and resetting their profiles doesn't help, something tied to their accounts is probably giving them a different default printer or driver than other users. I suggest the following checks:

  • Sign in as an affected user, set Microsoft Print to PDF as the default printer, then reopen a sheet created from one of the templates. If the page count returns to normal, the printer or its driver is the cause.
  • In Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners, check whether Let Windows manage my default printer is turned on. If it is, turn it off and set the same default printer that working users have.
  • Check whether these two accounts get printers from a logon script, a print server or Intune that other users don't. Also compare the default paper size in the printer preferences, for example A4 compared with Letter.
  • In Page Layout, compare Size, Orientation, Margins and the Scaling setting under Page Setup with a working user.
  • If the breaks can't be dragged in Page Break Preview, check that File > Options > Advanced > Enable fill handle and cell drag-and-drop is turned on for these users.

For reference: Insert, move, or delete page breaks in a worksheet | Microsoft Support

I hope this helps. Looking forward to your reply.

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