Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365. 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 February 15, 2020)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365


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 Word in Microsoft 365. 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. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Conditionally Playing an Audio File

You can add audio files to an Excel worksheet, but what if you want a particular audio file to play only when a value in ...

Discover More

Returning Blanks with VLOOKUP

Normally the VLOOKUP function returns a value, and if it can't return a value it returns a zero. Here's how you can use ...

Discover More

Replacing Commas with Periods

Want to replace all commas in a formatted number with periods, and vice-versa? There are a couple of approaches you can ...

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 2013. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2013 For Dummies today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Upside-Down Printing

Putting words on the printed page is easy in Word. Rotating those words in different manners can be a bit trickier. This ...

Discover More

Printing Document Properties

Word maintains quite a bit of information about a document in a special collection of items called "properties." You can ...

Discover More

Using Only Odd Page Numbers

Do you need to number the pages of your document using only odd page numbers? Word doesn't provide a way to do this, but ...

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 - 0?

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.