Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Printing the Active Document from a Macro.

Printing the Active Document from a Macro

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 21, 2025)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021


Macros really can make life easier. It is not uncommon to create macros that perform repetitive tasks, and thereby relieve us of the mundane tasks we might otherwise need to perform. It is also not uncommon to need to print out the current document after doing some processing on it. If you find yourself with this need, you can simply let the macro take care of printing the current document. To add this capability to your macros, simply include a line like this:

ActiveDocument.PrintOut Copies:=1

The PrintOut method prints the specified document; in this case, the ActiveDocument object—the document currently selected—is printed. In this particular usage, the Copies argument is used to specify how many copies of the document to print.

When using the PrintOut method, there are quite a few different arguments you can use. Rather than detail all of them, it is probably more useful to just look at some of the more common arguments you can use.

Argument Meaning
Copies The number of copies to print.
Pages The page ranges to print. The ranges are separated by commas and enclosed in quote marks.
PrintToFile Normally False, but you can set it to True if you want output to go to a disk file instead of the printer.
OutputFileName Only necessary if you set PrintToFile to True. Used to specify the file name of the output file.

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 (12847) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Printing the Active Document from a Macro.

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. ...

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