How do I print double-sided, and why does my printer not offer it?
Automatic duplex, manual duplex, and the binding edge setting that decides whether the back of every page is upside down. Including why the option is missing even on printers that can do it.
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Time
- 15 min
- Read
- 5 min
Short answer
Look for a two-sided or duplex option in the print dialogue. If it is missing, the printer either cannot do it or the computer is using a generic driver that does not expose the feature — installing the manufacturer's driver usually restores it. If your printer genuinely cannot, use the manual two-sided option, which prints the odd pages, then tells you how to put the stack back in.
Double-sided printing is one of those features that is either invisible or infuriating. Printers with a duplex unit do it automatically and the setting is a single tick. Printers without one can still do it, by printing every other page and asking you to turn the stack over, but the option is buried and the instructions about which way up to reinsert the paper are the sort of thing that costs a ream to work out by trial. Layered on top is the binding edge choice, which decides whether the reverse of each sheet is rotated — and getting that wrong produces a document where every other page is upside down, which looks like a fault and is a setting.
Step by step
- Find out whether your printer has a duplex unit.Check the specification for automatic two-sided printing or a duplexer. Many home printers have one, many entry-level ones do not, and it is not something that can be added. A printer with one will show a two-sided option in the print dialogue without any preparation.
- Look in the right place in the print dialogue.On Windows the option may be on the main dialogue or behind Printer Properties or Preferences. On a Mac it is in the print dialogue's expanded view, sometimes under a Layout section. Applications also add their own — Word, browsers and PDF readers each present it slightly differently.
- Choose the binding edge deliberately.Long edge means the pages turn like a book, which is right for portrait documents. Short edge means they turn like a flip pad, which is right for landscape. Choosing the wrong one prints every reverse side rotated by 180 degrees, and it is the single most common complaint about duplex printing.
- Use manual two-sided printing if there is no duplexer.The option is usually called manual duplex or two-sided printing manually. It prints one side of every sheet, then displays instructions telling you exactly how to reinsert the stack. Follow those instructions rather than guessing, because the correct orientation differs between printers that feed from a tray and ones that feed from the top.
- Test with three pages before printing forty.Number three sheets by hand, run the job, and see what you get. This is the entire technique for getting manual duplex right first time, and it costs three sheets rather than a ream.
- Install the manufacturer's driver if the option is missing.Windows often installs a generic driver that prints perfectly and exposes almost no features — no duplex, no tray selection, no quality settings. The manufacturer's own driver for that model restores them. The catalogue's guide on drivers covers where to get it and why not to use a driver-updater program.
- Consider the paper as well.Thin paper shows print through from the reverse, and inkjet output on cheap paper is worse than laser. If double-sided output looks poor rather than wrong, heavier paper is the fix — and a duplex job on paper that is too heavy for the printer is a reliable way to cause a jam.
- Set it as the default if you always want it.In the printer's properties in Windows settings, or the printer's presets on a Mac, two-sided can be made the default for every job. For a household printing anything at volume this halves the paper used with no further thought.
Common mistakes
- Printing the whole document to find out which way round it comes — Three numbered test sheets answer the question for a few pence. The full run answers it for a ream.
- Assuming a missing option means the printer cannot do it — A generic driver hides duplex, tray selection and quality settings on a printer that supports all three. Check the specification before concluding anything about the hardware.
- Reusing already-printed paper in a duplex job — It has already been through heat and rollers, it curls, and it jams. Single-sided reprinting on scrap is fine; duplex on scrap is not.
If it doesn't work
Every other page is upside down
Cause: The wrong binding edge — Fix: Switch between long edge and short edge. This is a setting, not a fault, and it is by far the most common duplex complaint.
No two-sided option anywhere
Cause: No duplex unit, or a generic driver — Fix: Check the printer's specification. If it does support duplex, install the manufacturer's driver — a generic one hides the feature entirely.
Manual duplex prints the second side on the wrong sheets
Cause: The stack was reinserted the wrong way — Fix: Follow the on-screen instruction exactly, and test with three numbered sheets. Different printers want the stack flipped in different ways and there is no universal rule.
Jams whenever duplex is used
Cause: Paper weight, curl or a worn roller — Fix: Duplex pulls each sheet back through, so it is much less tolerant of curled or damp paper. Use fresh paper from a sealed pack, and check the weight is within the printer's duplex range, which is narrower than its normal range.
Print shows through from the other side
Cause: Paper too thin for double-sided — Fix: Move up in paper weight. Standard office paper is at the light end for double-sided inkjet work.
The last page of an odd-numbered document wastes a sheet
Cause: Normal behaviour — Fix: Nothing to fix. Some drivers offer a booklet or multiple-pages-per-sheet option if you are trying to reduce paper further.
Questions people ask
Does double-sided printing use more ink?
The same per page. What it halves is paper. On an inkjet, heavy coverage on both sides of thin paper can cause show-through and cockling, which is a paper choice rather than an ink question.
Can I print double-sided from a phone?
Sometimes — the option appears in the print dialogue if the printer reports duplex capability, and mobile printing exposes fewer settings than a computer does. For anything where the binding edge matters, printing from a computer gives you the control.
What is booklet printing?
A layout that prints two reduced pages per side and orders them so that folding the stack in half produces a booklet in reading order. Many drivers include it, and it is genuinely useful for handouts and orders of service. It needs duplex to be worth doing.
Why does my printer say it is duplexing but only prints one side?
Usually the application is overriding the driver, which happens often with browsers and PDF readers that have their own two-sided setting. Set it in the application's dialogue rather than in the printer's properties when the two disagree.