How to Return All Worksheets in an Excel Workbook Back to Normal View

To return a worksheet to Normal view in Excel, click the View tab and click Normal in the Workbook Views group, or click the Normal button on the status bar. View settings apply to one worksheet at a time, so for a whole workbook you can try grouping the sheets first, or run a short macro that switches every sheet.

The steps come from Microsoft’s page breaks and Group worksheets articles.

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How to Return One Worksheet to Normal View

Click the sheet tab you want to change.
Click the View tab.
Click Normal in the Workbook Views group.

Result: The sheet goes back to the regular editing grid without the page margins and rulers of Page Layout view. Microsoft notes you can also click Normal on the status bar at the bottom right. There is a keyboard shortcut: press and release Alt, then press W, then L.

How to return an Excel worksheet to Normal view — Illustration: how to return an Excel worksheet to Normal view.

Still Seeing Dotted Page-Break Lines?

Microsoft explains that after you use Page Break Preview, page breaks can stay visible in Normal view. To hide them, click File > Options > Advanced, scroll to Display options for this worksheet, and clear Show page breaks.

How to Put Every Worksheet Back in Normal View

Although the view buttons sit in the Workbook Views group, they only change the sheet you’re on. Here are two ways to handle a whole workbook.

Option 1: Group the Sheets

Right-click any sheet tab and choose Select All Sheets. Microsoft says the title bar then shows Group.
Click View > Normal.
Right-click a sheet tab and choose Ungroup Sheets.
Click through the tabs to confirm each one switched.

Ungroup right away. Microsoft warns that while sheets are grouped, any change you make on one sheet is made on all of them. When every sheet is selected, clicking another tab also ungroups them. The guides we checked describe views as a per-sheet setting, so if some sheets don’t switch, use the macro below.

How to switch every worksheet in Excel to Normal view — Illustration: how to switch every worksheet in Excel to Normal view.

Option 2: Use a Macro

This VBA code loops through every worksheet and sets it to Normal view. Press Alt + F11 to open the VBA editor, insert a module, paste the code, and run it.

Sub ReturnNormalView()
    Dim ws As Worksheet
    For Each ws In ThisWorkbook.Worksheets
        ws.Activate
        ActiveWindow.View = xlNormalView
    Next ws
    ThisWorkbook.Worksheets(1).Activate
End Sub

Save a copy of your workbook first. To keep the macro in the file, you’ll need to save it as a macro-enabled workbook (.xlsm).

What Are the Other Views?

Normal: the regular editing view for data entry and formulas.
Page Layout: shows pages with margins, headers and footers, and rulers. You can set column widths in inches here.
Page Break Preview: shows where each printed page starts and ends. Microsoft says dashed lines are automatic page breaks and solid lines are ones you added, and you can drag them to move them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did Excel open in Page Layout or Page Break Preview?

Views are set per sheet and stay with the workbook. If someone switched a sheet to another view and saved the file, that sheet opens that way until you change it back.

Is there a keyboard shortcut for Normal view?

Yes. Use Alt, W, L: press and release Alt, then press W, then L. It switches the current sheet only.

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Matthew Burleigh

Matthew Burleigh is the founder, head writer, and editor of Solve Your Tech, which he launched in 2012. He has written technology tutorials since 2008 and worked in IT since 2003, including small-business support, IT management, and consulting. He holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Computer Science from Arizona State University.

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