Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: Collating Copies.

Collating Copies

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated November 29, 2025)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

If you work where there is a good size copy machine, you already know what it means to collate something. With a copier, it means the multi-page document you are copying is placed in complete sets that can be used right away. It is the same in Word. If you have a document that consists of five pages, and you are printing multiple copies, you can either print them collated or normal. When they are collated, they are in page 1–5 order for each of the five sets. If they are not collated, five copies of the first page are printed, then five of the second, and so on. To control collating, follow these steps:

Choose Print from the File menu. Word displays the Print dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Print dialog box.

Specify the number of copies you wish to print.
Click on the Collate Copies check box. If the check box is selected, this indicates the copies will be collated.
Click on OK. Your document will be printed.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (465) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) here: Collating Copies.

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. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Printing Return Address Labels

Want an easy way to create your own return address labels? Word provides the tool as a feature of the program.

Discover More

Changing Text Orientation

Word allows you to change the orientation of text contained within certain objects, such as shapes, text boxes, and table ...

Discover More

Using the Camera in VBA

The camera tool allows you to capture dynamic "pictures" of portions of a worksheet. If you want to use the camera tool ...

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 (menu)

Printing More than One Copy

If you need to print more than one copy of your document, you need to become familiar with the options in the Print ...

Discover More

Discovering Printer Drift

How accurate is your printer when it comes to placing information on the printed page? The simple technique described in ...

Discover More

Printing Documents without Markup

If you have a document with Track Changes turned on, you can accumulate quite a bit of "markup" in it. Here's how you can ...

Discover More

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.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is four less than 5?

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 menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.