Margins On the Screen Don't Match Printout

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 26, 2023)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365


David has his document formatted with a 1" margin on each side. However, when he is working in Print Layout view, he doesn't see the one-inch margin at the top of the page. Instead, his text starts right at the top of the page on the screen. When David prints the margins look OK, but it frustrates him that they don't look right on the screen.

The most likely cause of this is that you have whitespace suppressed on your display. Follow these steps to make the adjustment:

  1. Display the Word Options dialog box. (In Word 2007 click the Office button and then click Word Options. In Word 2010 and later versions display the File tab of the ribbon and then click Options.)
  2. Click Display at the left side of the dialog box. (See Figure 1.)
  3. Figure 1. The display options of the Word Options dialog box.

  4. Make sure the Show White Space between Pages in Print Layout View option is selected.
  5. Click on OK.

There is a shortcut you can use to turn the display of whitespace on or off. In fact, the shortcut is easy enough that it is entirely possible to turn it off without even realizing that you've done so. (This is probably what happened in David's case.) All you need to do is scroll through your document until you see the small gray line between pages. If you position the mouse pointer over this gray line, it changes to a double-headed arrow. (See Figure 2.)

Figure 2. The double-headed arrow shortcut.

Double-click at that time, and your margins reappear. Double-click the gray area again and the margins disappear.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (11850) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365.

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

Automatically Printing an Envelope

When you create a letter, you may want to have Word print a single envelope for that letter. You can do so by following ...

Discover More

Hiding Excel in VBA

Want to have you macro completely hide the Excel interface? You can do so by using the Visible property for the Excel ...

Discover More

Keeping Word Open after Closing Documents

Usually when you are done working on a document, you want to close Word completely and move on to something else. There ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! An easy-to-understand guide to the more advanced features available in the Microsoft 365 version of Word. Enhance the quality of your documents and boost productivity in any field with this in-depth resource. Complete your Word-related tasks more efficiently as you unlock lesser-known tools and learn to quickly access the features you need. Check out Microsoft 365 Word For Professionals For Dummies today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Quickly Customizing the Keyboard

Want a quick way to change the shortcut key associated with a tool available on a ribbon, toolbar, or menu? Here's one ...

Discover More

Sizing What is Displayed in the Styles Gallery

The Styles Gallery can be a great tool for applying your often-used styles. It can be frustrating, though, if you cannot ...

Discover More

Using Text Boundaries

Text boundaries can help you better visualize where text can appear in your document. The feature is easy to turn on and ...

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 7 + 9?

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.