Printing Outside the Boundaries All the Time

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated May 28, 2024)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021


When Stephen chooses to print something, Word warns him that what he is trying to print is "outside the printing boundaries," but he can still print. Stephen wonders if there is any way to tell Word that he always prints outside the boundaries so that he doesn't always have to deal with this notification.

There is no way to turn this notification on or off—in other words, it is not a configuration setting you can make in the program. You can, however, turn off notifications while running a macro. This means that you can print via a macro, and simply turn notifications off just before printing and turn them back on right after printing. You do this using the DisplayAlerts property:

Application.DisplayAlerts = wdAlertsNone
Application.DisplayAlerts = wdAlertsAll

The first line turns off alerts and the second turns them on. It is important to remember that these lines are always used as a pair. If you turn off alerts and never turn them back on, you won't see any alerts even after the macro is ended.

A simple way to use them in a macro is shown here:

Sub PrintMyDocument()
    With Application
        .DisplayAlerts = wdAlertsNone
        .PrintOut Background:=False
        .DisplayAlerts = wdAlertsAll
    End With
End Sub

In order to use the macro, simply load the document you want to print and then run the macro. You won't see the notifications appear.

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the WordTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (7594) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Font Substitution Problems

When your document uses fonts that are not available on your computer system, Word substitutes other fonts that it feels ...

Discover More

Deletions Don't Work as Expected

We all get into habits, including in how we use Word. If you are used to deleting text in a particular way, and all of a ...

Discover More

Checking Just the Selected Text

Having a hard time doing a spell check on just the portion of the document you've selected? This is apparently due to a ...

Discover More

Learning Made Easy! Quickly teach yourself how to format, publish, and share your content using Word 2021 or Microsoft 365. With Step by Step, you set the pace, building and practicing the skills you need, just when you need them! Check out Microsoft Word Step by Step today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Making Banners in Word

Word can be used for printing a variety of document types. You may want to use the program to print a festive banner for ...

Discover More

Printing Hidden Text

One of the formatting attributes you can add to text is to make it "hidden," which means you can control whether it is ...

Discover More

Forcing a Final Blank Page

When printing or combining documents, you may need to worry about how many pages are in the documents. This tip provides ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 6 - 3?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Videos
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.