If you have a duplex printer, printing on both sides can be done quickly and easily. But if you have a printer that only supports printing on one side, you’ll need to be close enough to the printer to flip the paper when it’s time. Let’s walk through both options in Word on Windows and Mac.
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Print Double-Sided in Word on Windows
It takes only a few steps to print double-sided on Windows from a Word document if your printer supports duplex printing. Otherwise, use the manual method.
Print With a Duplex Printer
Open your Word document, select the File tab, and then choose “Print.”
Select the Printer at the top if necessary. Below Settings, open the second drop-down box and pick one of the “Print on Both Sides” options. The first option flips pages on the long edge while the second flips pages on the short edge.
Make any other changes you’d like and click “Print” when you’re ready.
If you don’t see the Print on Both Sides options, then your printer does not support duplex printing. Move onto the section below to manually print double-sided.
Print Double-Sided Manually
If your printer only prints on one side, you can print a set of pages, flip them over, and then print the remaining pages. Word on Windows gives you two ways to do this.
RELATED: How to Print a Range of Pages in a Multi-Section Word Document
With your Word document open, select the File tab and choose “Print.”
In the second drop-down box below Settings, pick “Manually Print on Both Sides.” Using this option, Word will prompt you when it’s time to flip the pages over in your printer.
Alternatively, use the first drop-down box under Settings and pick either “Only Print Odd Pages” or “Only Print Even Pages.” Make the other adjustments needed and click “Print.”
Once the set of pages you selected finishes printing, flip the pages over and reinsert them. Depending on your printer, you may also need to rotate the pages. Check your printer documentation for this.
Return to the Word document and use the first drop-down box under Settings to select the other set, odd or even, and continue to print.
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Print Double-Sided in Word on Mac
While the options for printing on two sides in Word on Mac is similar to that on Windows, there are a few slight differences.
Print With a Duplex Printer
Open your Word document and select File > Print from the menu bar. In the pop-up window, select your Printer and Presets at the top if necessary. In the next drop-down box, pick “Layout.”
In the bottom section, select Long- or Short-Edge Binding next to Two-Sided, depending on if you want to flip pages on the long or short side of the paper. Make any other adjustments needed and click “Print” when you’re ready.
If you do not see the Two-Sided option available, then your printer does not support duplex printing. You can still print on both sides by following the steps in the next section.
Print Double-Sided Manually
If you don’t have a duplex printer, you can manually print on both sides in Word on Mac. Like on Windows, print either the odd or even pages, flip them over, and then print the other set of pages.
RELATED: How to Work with Page Numbers in Microsoft Word
With your Word document open, select File > Print from the menu bar.
In the pop-up window, select your Printer and Presets at the top if necessary. In the next drop-down box, pick “Microsoft Word.”
Next to Print, mark either Odd Pages Only or Even Pages Only, depending on which you want to print first. Make any other adjustments you like and click “Print” when you’re ready.
Once your printer finishes printing the set of pages you selected, flip the pages over and reinsert them into your paper feed. Depending on your printer, you may also need to rotate the pages. Check your printer documentation for this.
Return to your Word document, select File > Print > Microsoft Word, and pick the other set of either Odd or Even pages. Click “Print.”
When you have a Word document that you want to print on both sides, you do have options whether your printer supports duplex printing or not.
For additional help printing in Word, take a look at how to create and print labels or how to make and print envelopes.
