Printing Problems

How to Fix Word Printing Page Borders with Larger Margins

Camila Milosovich Oct 22, 2026 868 views

Question details

Users need to resolve an issue where document page borders print incorrectly on physical paper despite appearing perfect on screen.

How to Fix Word Printing Page Borders with Larger Margins

Product: Word
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Printing a document that contains page borders.
Observed behavior: Page borders look correct in Print Preview and when exported to PDF, but they shift and print with unexpectedly larger margins on actual paper.

Before you start

Ensure your printer is turned on, loaded with the correct paper size, and that your printer drivers are fully up to date.

Solution 1Recommended

Export Document to PDF and Print at Actual Size

Bypassing Word's direct printing by exporting to a PDF often resolves border scaling issues caused by how Word interacts with printer drivers.

Printers have a hardware-defined non-printable area. Word sometimes tries to overly compensate for this area, causing the borders to shift. Printing from a PDF viewer locks the layout in place.

Export to PDF

In your Word document, go to 'File', select 'Export', and choose 'Create PDF/XPS Document' to save your file.

Open the PDF

Locate the saved PDF on your computer and open it using your default PDF reader or web browser.

Adjust Print Settings

Press Ctrl + P to open the Print dialog. Locate the scaling or sizing options and ensure it is set to 'Actual Size' or '100%' rather than 'Fit' or 'Shrink oversized pages'.

Print the Document

Click 'Print' to send the document to your printer. The page borders should now reflect the correct margins.

Export Document to PDF and Print at Actual Size

Most Reliable Workaround: This method guarantees that the layout rendered in the PDF is exactly what is sent to the printer, avoiding Word-specific layout shifts entirely.

Solution 2

Verify Paper Size and Printer Driver Settings

Mismatching paper sizes between your Word document and the printer's hardware settings can cause unexpected margin behaviors.

Professional Printing Solution

Print Documents Perfectly with WPS Office

WPS Office offers robust document formatting and precise printing controls, ensuring your page borders and margins print exactly as they appear on your screen.

1. Open your Document: Launch WPS Writer and open the document experiencing printing issues.
2. Verify Page Layout: Navigate to the 'Page Layout' tab to confirm your margins and page borders are set precisely.
3. Export or Print directly: Click 'Menu' and select 'Export to PDF' to lock the layout, or select 'Print' to use WPS's accurate print dialogue.
4. Print at Actual Size: If printing the PDF, select your printer, confirm the scaling is set to 'Actual Size', and hit Print.

Highly compatible with Microsoft Word (.docx) formatsBuilt-in PDF exporter for pixel-perfect printingAdvanced page layout and margin adjustment toolsFree to use with a lightweight installation

microsoft office alternative - wps office

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do page borders look fine in Print Preview but print incorrectly?

This usually happens because most printers have a hardware-defined non-printable area near the edges of the paper. Word interacts with the printer driver and tries to adjust the margins to fit this area, causing the borders to shift or shrink.

How can I change the margin settings for page borders in Word?

Go to the 'Design' tab, click 'Page Borders', and select 'Options' in the dialog box. You can then adjust the 'Measure from' setting to either 'Text' or 'Edge of page' depending on how you want the border to align.

Does updating my printer driver fix margin and border issues?

Yes, outdated or generic printer drivers might inaccurately report the non-printable area to your word processor. Updating to the manufacturer's latest driver can resolve these layout discrepancies.

Document & File Issues