Printing Problems

How to Remove Blank Pages When Printing Reports

Khadija Khan Sep 30, 2026 868 views

Question details

The user wants to stop extra blank pages from printing between the actual pages of their report.

How to Remove Blank Pages When Printing Reports

Product: Document Processor
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Printing a wide report or document containing extended layout objects.
Observed behavior: The printer outputs one normal page of the report, immediately followed by a blank page, before printing the next normal page.

Before you start

Before making changes, always open the Print Preview window to accurately see which pages are registering as blank without wasting printer ink and paper.

Solution 1Recommended

Adjust Document Margins and Content Width

Resize your document's contents and margins to ensure nothing extends past the printable area, which is the most common cause of alternating blank pages.

When an object, table, or line of text is wider than the selected page size, the printer interprets the overflow as a new page, resulting in an alternating blank page pattern during printing.

Inspect Report Edges

Scroll through your document and carefully check the left and right edges. Look for any tables, images, or shapes that overlap or extend beyond the visible page margins.

Adjust Page Margins

Navigate to the Page Layout tab and select Margins. Reduce the Left and Right margins to expand the printable area, giving your content more room to fit on a single page.

Resize Wide Objects

Click on any oversized tables or images and drag their sizing handles inward to manually reduce their width, ensuring they stay strictly within the page boundaries.

Verify with Print Preview

Click on File, then select Print Preview. Scroll through the preview pages to confirm that the alternating blank pages have been successfully removed before sending the job to the printer.

Adjust Document Margins and Content Width

Quick Tip: If your report is naturally very wide, consider changing the page orientation from Portrait to Landscape in the Page Layout settings to easily accommodate the data.

Easily Fix Layout and Printing Issues with WPS Office

WPS Office provides highly intuitive page layout tools and a precise Print Preview feature, making it incredibly easy to spot layout overflows and eliminate blank pages before printing.

1. Open your report in WPS Writer: Launch WPS Office and open the document that is causing the printing issues.
2. Adjust your margins: Go to the Page Layout tab, click Margins, and select Narrow or set Custom Margins to easily fit your content.
3. Check the Print Preview: Click the Print Preview icon on the quick access toolbar to ensure there are no extra blank pages.
4. Print efficiently: Once the layout is perfect, click the Print button directly from the preview screen.

Visual Print Preview to catch layout issues and blank pages instantlyIntuitive Page Setup menu for precise margin and paper size adjustmentsOne-click 'Fit to Page' options for easy document scalingSeamlessly fully compatible with Microsoft Word formats (.docx)

microsoft office alternative - wps office

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is there an extra blank page at the very end of my printed document?

This is typically caused by invisible, empty paragraph marks (Enter keystrokes) accumulated at the end of your document. You can fix this by clicking the 'Show/Hide Editing Marks' button on the Home tab to reveal these spaces, then deleting them until the final blank page disappears.

Can hidden section breaks cause blank pages when printing?

Yes. If your document contains an 'Odd Page' or 'Even Page' section break, the word processor may force the printer to output a blank page to ensure the next section starts on the correct facing page. You can change the section break type to 'Continuous' under the Page Setup menu to resolve this.

Is there a way to automatically scale my document to avoid blank pages?

Many modern printers offer a 'Shrink to Fit' or 'Scale to Fit Paper' option within the Printer Properties dialog. Checking this option before printing will automatically scale down slightly oversized content so it fits cleanly onto a single page, preventing overflow blank pages.

Document & File Issues