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

Different Ways of Inserting Dates

Word provides a couple of different ways you can insert the current date into a document. Which method should you choose? ...

Discover More

Printing Field Codes

Field codes allow dynamic information to be included in documents and can be a great boon. At some point you may want to ...

Discover More

ExcelTips: Filters and Filtering

Excel provides two ways to filter your data so that only what you want to see is displayed. Discover how filtering works ...

Discover More

The First and Last Word on Word! Bestselling For Dummies author Dan Gookin puts his usual fun and friendly candor back to work to show you how to navigate Word 2019. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2019 For Dummies today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Useable Printed Pages with Markup

When you create documents that rely on markup (tracked changes and comments), getting usable printed output that includes ...

Discover More

Printing Reversed Images

Ever need to print the mirror image of your document? This tip explains how to reverse your image so it can be used for ...

Discover More

Printing Just the Changes and Comments

Word allows you to use its Track Changes feature to add markup to your document. This is great when you have a group of ...

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 - 1?

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.