How to Fix Microsoft Word Not Printing Selected Pages or Custom Ranges
Question details
Users are unable to print specific pages or custom page ranges in Microsoft Word, particularly when the document contains multiple sections.
- Product
- Microsoft Word
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Printing a specific portion of a document instead of the entire file.
- Observed behavior
- Word ignores the custom page range settings and either prints the wrong pages, prints the entire document, or completely fails to print the selected range.
Before troubleshooting, determine if your document contains multiple sections by right-clicking the bottom status bar in Word and enabling the 'Section' indicator.
Specify Page and Section Numbers in Print Settings
Use the 'p#s#' format in the print range to accurately target specific pages within documents containing multiple sections.
When a Word document contains continuous, next-page, or other section breaks, the internal page numbering resets or diverges from the physical page count. To force Word to print the correct pages, you must specify both the exact page number and its corresponding section number.
Click on the specific page you want to print. Look at the bottom-left status bar to find the 'Section' number (e.g., Section 2). If it's not visible, right-click the status bar and check 'Section'.
Navigate to 'File' > 'Print', or press 'Ctrl + P' on your keyboard.
Under 'Settings', select 'Custom Print'. In the Pages box, type 'p' followed by the page number, then 's' followed by the section number. For example, to print page 1 of section 2, type 'p1s2'.
To print a range, use a hyphen between your starting and ending values. For example, typing 'p1s2-p3s4' will print everything from page 1 of section 2 through page 3 of section 4.
Update Microsoft Office to Resolve Printing Bugs
Certain builds of Microsoft Office have known bugs affecting custom page range printing. Updating the software can resolve these issues.
Easily Print Custom Pages and Ranges with WPS Writer
Avoid complex section number formatting and printing bugs. WPS Writer provides an intuitive and highly reliable printing interface to easily select and print specific pages or custom ranges without hassle.
- 1. Open your document: Launch WPS Writer and open your multi-section document.
- 2. Access Print settings: Press 'Ctrl + P' or navigate to 'Menu' > 'Print'.
- 3. Select page range: Under the 'Page range' section, select 'Pages' and simply type your desired page numbers separated by commas or hyphens (e.g., 1, 3, 5-10).
- 4. Print effortlessly: Click 'Print' to get your selected pages seamlessly without worrying about hidden section breaks.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is Word printing the whole document when I selected specific pages?
If your document contains multiple section breaks, Word's print engine may get confused by standard page numbers since multiple pages might be labeled 'Page 1' internally. You must specify the section along with the page number (e.g., p1s2) to print correctly.
How do I find out which section my page belongs to in Word?
Right-click the status bar at the bottom of the Word window and click on the 'Section' option to enable it. Once enabled, the current section number will display in the bottom-left corner whenever you click on a page.
Can I print a range spanning multiple sections?
Yes, you can print across sections by specifying the starting page and section, followed by a hyphen, and then the ending page and section. For example, to print from page 2 of section 1 to page 4 of section 3, you would enter p2s1-p4s3.
What if the 'p#s#' format still doesn't print the correct pages?
If specifying sections doesn't work, your Office installation might have a bug affecting print ranges. Go to File > Account > Update Options and select 'Update Now' to install the latest bug fixes, or try saving the document as a PDF first and printing from your PDF viewer.
