Multiple Pages Per Sheet

Word includes a nifty feature that allows you to print multiple pages on a single sheet of paper. For instance, you can take two pages of your document and print them on a single side of a piece of paper. Word allows you to print 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, or 16 actual pages per printed page. This can save quite a bit of paper, but it can make reading the output more difficult.

To control this setting, follow these steps:

1. Load the document you want to print.
2. Press Ctrl+P. Word displays the File tab of the ribbon with the print options visible.
3. Use the final drop-down list at the bottom of the print options. (It should read "1 page per sheet" before you make your changes.) Click on the drop-down list to specify how many pages should be combined on each printed page.
4. Specify any other printing options, as desired.
5. Click on OK to print your document.

If you are using Word 2007 you should follow these steps, instead:

1. Load the document you want to print.
2. Press Ctrl+P. Word displays the Print dialog box. (See Figure 1.)



Figure 1. The Print dialog box.

3. Use the Pages Per Sheet drop-down list (lower-right corner) to specify how many pages should be combined on each printed page.
4. Specify any other printing options, as desired.
5. Click on OK to print your document.

There is an important thing to keep in mind here—this setting controls how many pages of the current document will print on a single sheet. So, let's say you have a six-page document and you print four pages per sheet. That means that pages 1-4 of the document will print on the first sheet and pages 5-6 will print on the second.

If you have a one-page document and you choose to print four pages per sheet, then only that one page will print and it will take a quarter of the sheet. This setting is NOT for multiple copies of the same page. In other words, for your one-page document, choosing four pages per sheet will not result in printing four copies of page 1 on a single sheet. If you want to do that, then you can try choosing to print four pages per sheet and then, in the Pages field, enter "1,1,1,1" (without the quote marks). You should then get four copies of page 1 on the same sheet.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (6059) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Multiple Pages Per Sheet.