How to Print from Google Docs: Every Setting Explained (Desktop, Phone & Chromebook)

Quick answer: open the document and press Ctrl + P (Cmd + P on a Mac), or click the printer icon in the toolbar, or go to File > Print. In the print preview, choose your printer under Destination, set the pages, copies and color, and click Print. On a phone, open the Google Docs app, tap the three-dot menu > Share & export > Print. If the layout looks wrong in the preview, fix it in File > Page setup first. Most "Google Docs prints weird" problems start there.

Google Docs is simple until you need something specific: a single page, landscape orientation, the comments, no blank last page. This guide covers every setting in the print window, what Page setup controls, how to print from the mobile app, and fixes for the problems we see most.

How to Print a Google Doc on a Computer

1. Open the document in your browser.
2. Press Ctrl + P / Cmd + P, click the printer icon at the far left of the toolbar, or choose File > Print.
3. Docs prepares a print preview (a second or two for long documents).
4. Pick your printer under Destination. If it isn't listed, click See more.
5. Adjust the settings (explained below) and click Print.

In Chrome and Edge you get the preview panel right away. In Safari and Firefox, Docs may open or download a PDF of the document first, and you print that PDF. The result is the same.

Every Print Setting, Explained

Setting	What it does	When to change it
Destination	Which printer, or Save as PDF	Choose Save as PDF to proof the layout without using paper
Pages	All, Odd only, Even only, or Custom	Custom takes ranges like 2-4, 7. Odd/even helps with manual double-sided printing.
Copies	How many sets	Tick Collate for complete sets in order. Here's what collate means.
Color	Color or Black and white	Black and white stops colored headings, links and highlights from using color ink
Paper size	Letter, Legal, A4, etc.	Match what's in the tray. It should also match Page setup.
Pages per sheet	Shrinks 2, 4, 6, 9 or 16 pages onto one sheet	Drafts, study notes, proofreading
Scale	Default, Fit to printable area, or Custom %	Use Fit if edges are being clipped
Two-sided	Prints on both sides (if your printer supports it)	Long documents. Saves half the paper.
Print using system dialog	Opens your printer's own settings window	Paper type, print quality, tray selection, borderless

The system dialog link sits at the bottom of the preview panel, or you can press Ctrl + Shift + P. That's where you'll find the settings that affect print quality, such as Best quality or the photo paper media type. Those don't exist in Chrome's own panel.

Set Up the Page First: File > Page Setup

Chrome's print window controls how the document prints. Page setup controls what the pages look like: orientation, paper size, margins and page color. When a Google Doc prints strangely, fix it here and not in the print window.

• Pages vs. Pageless. Pageless docs scroll forever with no page breaks. They look clean on screen, but you can't see where pages will break, and wide tables and images get shrunk or split when printed. Switch to Pages (File > Page setup > Pages tab) before printing.
• Orientation. Portrait or Landscape. This is the reliable way to print a Google Doc in landscape. You can also give a single section its own orientation: insert a section break (Insert > Break > Section break) and use Page setup's Apply to option.
• Paper size. Letter by default in the US. Choose A4, Legal or Tabloid as needed. If you're unsure, here's the difference between Letter, Legal, A4 and Tabloid.
• Margins. The default is 1 inch all round. Don't go below about 0.25 inch, since most printers can't print that close to the edge.
• Page color. A colored page background does print, and it uses a lot of ink. Set it back to white before you print, unless it's deliberate.

How to Print from the Google Docs App (iPhone, iPad and Android)

1. Open the document in the Google Docs app.
2. Tap the three-dot menu (top right).
3. Tap Share & export, then Print.
4. Pick your printer, set the copies and color, and tap Print.

Your phone and printer must be on the same Wi-Fi network. iPhones and iPads print through AirPrint, and Android uses the Default Print Service or your printer maker's plugin. If the printer doesn't appear, work through printing from your phone or, for Apple devices, AirPrint not working.

How to Print from Google Docs on a Chromebook

It's the same as on any computer: Ctrl + P, choose the printer, print. The difference is getting the printer onto the Chromebook in the first place, since Chromebooks don't install printer drivers the way Windows does. Our Chromebook printing setup guide walks through wireless and USB setup.

How to Print Specific Things from Google Docs

Print one page, or just a few

Under Pages, choose Custom and type the page numbers, e.g. 3 or 3-5 or 1, 4, 6-8. To find a page number, watch the page indicator that pops up beside the scrollbar as you scroll (Pages format only).

Print only a selected part

Docs has no "print selection" option. Copy the part you want, paste it into a new document (File > New > Document), and print that.

Print with comments

Google Docs doesn't print comments. The workaround: File > Download > Microsoft Word (.docx), open it in Word, go to File > Print, and choose Print Markup. The comments print in the margin. Printing to PDF from Word and sharing that works too.

Print a clean copy without suggestions

If the doc has suggested edits (colored text with strike-throughs), accept or reject them first with Tools > Review suggested edits. You can also make a copy (File > Make a copy), accept everything in the copy, and print that.

Print in black and white

Set Color to Black and white in the print preview. Some printers will still dip into color cartridges for "black" if the setting is only applied in Chrome. For true grayscale, open the system dialog and choose Grayscale or Black ink only. Here's grayscale vs. monochrome vs. draft mode explained.

Print double-sided

Tick Two-sided under More settings. If there's no Two-sided option, your printer doesn't duplex automatically. Print Odd only, flip the stack, then print Even only. Full walkthrough: how to print double-sided.

Print an envelope or labels

Both need specific page sizes. See printing envelopes from Word and Google Docs and printing labels at home.

Print a booklet or a poster

Docs can't do either directly, but a downloaded PDF can. See how to print a booklet and how to print a poster on multiple pages.

Print slides with speaker notes

That's Google Slides, not Docs, but it's a common next question. Here's how to print Google Slides with speaker notes.

Google Docs Printing Problems and Fixes

Problem	Cause	Fix
An extra blank page prints at the end	Empty paragraphs or a page break after the last line	Click at the very end of the doc and press Backspace until the empty page disappears
Text or table cut off at the edge	Margins too small or table wider than the page	Increase margins in Page setup, or set Scale to Fit to printable area
Pages break in strange places	Document is in Pageless format	File > Page setup > Pages
Print preview never loads	Pop-up blocked, or a very large doc	Allow pop-ups for docs.google.com, or download as PDF and print that
Fonts look different on paper	Web font didn't embed	File > Download > PDF, then print the PDF
Printer not listed	Printer offline or not added to this computer	See printer not printing at all
Job sends but nothing prints	Stuck print queue	Restart the print spooler
Faded, streaky or missing color	Printer or cartridge, not Docs	Fix faded or streaky prints

Print Less, Spend Less

A few habits keep Google Docs printing cheap. Proof with Save as PDF before printing, use 2 pages per sheet for drafts, print in black and white, and switch to double-sided for anything longer than a few pages. When the cartridge does run low, find compatible and remanufactured replacements for your exact model in our find ink by printer directory. Orders over $50 ship free.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is there no print option in the Google Docs app?

It's there, just tucked away: three-dot menu > Share & export > Print. If you're viewing the file in the Google Drive app rather than Docs, open it in Docs first.

Can I print a Google Doc straight from Google Drive?

You can't print it from Drive directly. Double-click the file in Google Drive to open it in Docs, then press Ctrl + P. The whole thing takes a couple of seconds.

Can I print a Google Doc in landscape?

Yes. File > Page setup > Landscape, then print. Changing orientation in Page setup is more reliable than looking for it in the print window.

How do I print a Google Doc on legal paper?

Set File > Page setup > Paper size to Legal (8.5 x 14), load legal paper, and make sure the print window's paper size also says Legal.