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How to Fix Word Watermark Showing in Print Preview But Not Printing
Question details
The user needs to resolve an issue where a document's watermark is visible during print preview but fails to appear on the actual printed paper.
- Product
- Microsoft Word
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Printing a watermarked document.
- Observed behavior
- The watermark displays correctly in some print previews but is missing in others and does not print physically, even though standard inserted pictures print without issue.
Ensure your printer is properly connected and has enough ink. It is also recommended to update your printer drivers to rule out hardware communication errors before troubleshooting software bugs.
Apply the Official Microsoft Service-Side Fix
Use this solution first, as Microsoft has identified this specific watermark printing bug and released an automatic background update to resolve it.
The product team at Microsoft determined that a recent update caused watermarks in Word 2021 and Microsoft 365 to fail during physical printing. A service-side fix has been deployed, meaning your software just needs to reconnect to Microsoft servers to receive the patch.
Save any open documents in Microsoft Word or other Office applications to prevent data loss.
Completely exit Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. Ensure no Office apps are running in the background.
Launch Microsoft Word again. Open the affected document, go to File > Print, and send it to your printer to verify the watermark now prints.
Enable Background Printing in Word Options
If the service-side fix hasn't reached your device, verify that Word is actually configured to print background elements like watermarks.
Report Persistent Bugs to Microsoft
If neither the automatic fix nor the display settings resolve the printing problem, report the glitch directly to the Microsoft development team.
Print Watermarked Documents Reliably with WPS Office
Tired of unpredictable software bugs ruining your printed documents? WPS Office offers a highly stable and lightweight alternative to Microsoft Office. It guarantees that what you see in the print preview is exactly what comes out of your printer, including watermarks and background graphics.
- 1. Download and install: Get WPS Office for free from the official website and install it on your computer.
- 2. Open your document: Launch WPS Writer and open the .docx file that contains your watermark.
- 3. Print without errors: Go to Menu > Print. Your document will print perfectly, maintaining all original watermarks and formatting.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my watermark show in preview but not on paper?
This is often caused by a known bug in recent Microsoft Word updates, or because the 'Print background colors and images' setting is disabled in your Word Display options. Microsoft has released a service-side patch to fix the bug.
How do I force Word to print my watermark?
Close all open Office applications completely and reopen Word to apply the automatic Microsoft fix. Additionally, go to File > Options > Display, and ensure 'Print background colors and images' is ticked.
Is there a quick workaround if Word still won't print the watermark?
Yes. A highly effective temporary workaround is to save your document as a PDF (File > Save As > PDF). Once saved, open the PDF using any PDF viewer and print it. This bypasses Word's printing engine entirely.
