Adjusting Margins in Print Preview

by Allen Wyatt
(last updated March 30, 2013)

One of the last steps that many people take with a document before printing is to examine it using Print Preview. This allows you to examine the overall look of your document, without wasting paper. If desired, you can change the margins used in your document by following these general steps:

  1. View your document using Print Preview, as normal.
  2. Make sure the Ruler is displayed in the Print Preview mode. You can do this by clicking on the View Ruler button on the toolbar, the Show Ruler check box on the toolbar, or by choosing Ruler from the View menu. (The exact option you use depends on the version of Word you are using.)
  3. To adjust the top and bottom page margins, position the mouse pointer over one of the places on the vertical Ruler where the Ruler changes color (between gray and white or blue and white). The mouse pointer changes to a two-headed arrow, which you can drag to set a new margin.
  4. To adjust the left and right page margins, use the same technique with the same spots on the horizontal Ruler at the top of the Print Preview window. Finding the spot on the right side of the Ruler is often easier than doing so on the left side because of the paragraph indent markers.
  5. Exit Print Preview or print your document, as desired.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (630) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

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

Clearing the Undo Stack in a Macro

Excel keeps track of the actions you take so that you can undo those actions if any are taken in error. You may want to clear ...

Discover More

Making Sure Styles Do Not Update Automatically

One of the features of Word that can cause some problems is one that allows styles to be automatically updated based upon ...

Discover More

Searching for a Term in Sheets

Got a need to search the web for more information on something within a spreadsheet? Believe it or not, Sheets provides a ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 2013 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Access) with VBA programming, using it for writing macros, automating Office applications, and creating custom applications. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2013 today!

More WordTips (menu)

Determining Page Layout

Getting your document onto paper is the whole purpose of word processing. Here are some concepts that are important when ...

Discover More

Understanding Mirror Margins

Rather than have the margins of your documents always be the same, you can use what Word calls "mirror margins." Here's how ...

Discover More

Changing Sections

When you divide your document into sections in order to change page layout attributes, you need to give some thought to what ...

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.

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

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}] in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 8Mpixels. 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 5 + 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 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.

Newest Tips
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.

Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR AUTHORS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2017 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.