How to Fix Word Page Range Printing Problems After Office Upgrade
Question details
The user is unable to print a selected range of pages in Word after upgrading to a newer version of Microsoft Office.
- Product
- Microsoft Word
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Attempting to print specific pages or page ranges from a document, particularly those containing multiple formatted sections.
- Observed behavior
- Word successfully prints the current single page or the entire document, but fails or ignores the command when a specific page range is selected for printing.
Ensure your printer is properly connected and clear any stuck or failed print jobs from your computer's printing queue before proceeding with troubleshooting.
Install Office Updates and Restart Your Computer
Microsoft has patched a known bug affecting page range printing. Installing the latest Office updates and performing a full system restart usually resolves the issue.
This specific printing error was identified as a software bug in earlier builds of Office 2021. Microsoft released a patch for it, but the update may require a manual trigger or a system reboot to apply correctly.
Launch Microsoft Word. Click on 'File' in the top-left corner of the window, then select 'Account' from the bottom of the left-hand menu.
Under the 'Product Information' section, click the 'Update Options' drop-down button and select 'Update Now' to force Word to check for missing patches.
Once the updates finish downloading and installing, close all applications and restart your computer to fully apply the update.
Use Multi-Section Printing Syntax
If your document contains multiple sections, standard page numbers will not work for printing ranges. You must specify both the page and section numbers.
Experience Bug-Free Printing with WPS Office
Tired of encountering post-upgrade bugs and using complicated printing syntax? Switch to WPS Office. It is a highly compatible, free alternative to Microsoft Office that flawlessly handles .docx files and makes printing specific page ranges simple and intuitive.
- 1. Download WPS Office: Visit the official WPS website to download and install the free WPS Office suite.
- 2. Open Your Document: Launch WPS Writer and open your existing Word document directly.
- 3. Print Simply: Press Ctrl + P, select your desired page range using standard numbers, and print effortlessly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does Word print the whole document instead of my selected range?
This is often caused by a known software bug that appeared after upgrading from Office 2016 to newer versions. It can also happen if your document contains multiple section breaks and you are not using the correct page-section printing syntax.
How do I print a specific section in a multi-section Word document?
You need to use the 'p[page]s[section]' syntax in the print range box. For example, typing 's2' prints all of section 2. Typing 'p1s2-p3s2' prints pages 1 through 3 of section 2.
Does restarting the computer really fix this printing issue?
Yes. If Microsoft Office has recently downloaded a background update to patch this specific printing bug, the fix will not apply to your system until you completely restart your computer.
