A Word document won't print page ranges correctly.

Caesariatus 40 Reputation points
2026-05-21T14:41:41.6433333+00:00

I have a Word document for which, when I try to print a range, such as "9-10", will either print the whole document, or print pages starting from the start of the range to the end of the document, or do something completely weird. Once it told me it was printing 114 pages, even though the entire document is only 59 pages. The same thing happens when I try to print to PDF, so it's not on the printer or printer spool end. This only happens for the one document; every other document I've tried works the way it should.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows
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Answer accepted by question author
Stefan Blom 349.5K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
2026-05-21T16:26:02.1+00:00

If the document contains section breaks, you have to specify a page range using the syntax p#s#-p#s#. Use the "Formatted page number" and the "Section" number which can be added to the status bar in Word (right-click the status bar and click to select those options).

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AI answer

2026-05-21T14:41:52.5266667+00:00

The behavior is typically caused by the way page numbers and sections are set up in that specific document, not by the printer.

In Word, the page range in the Print dialog refers to the printed page numbers, not necessarily the physical page order. If the document uses:

  • Custom page numbering (for example, numbering starts at 47 instead of 1), or
  • Multiple sections with different page-number restarts,

then specifying a range like 9-10 may not match the actual pages intended and can lead to apparently random results (printing the whole document, printing from the start of the range to the end, or a much larger number of pages than expected).

To diagnose and work around this for the problem document:

  1. Check the page numbers shown in the status bar or in File > Print (Print Preview) for the pages that are actually wanted.
  2. Note the printed page numbers (for example, the first page of the document might be numbered 47).
  3. In the Print dialog, under Pages, enter the actual printed page numbers (for example, 47-48 instead of 1-2 or 9-10).

If the document has multiple sections with different numbering, use the page-and-section syntax (e.g., p47s1-p48s1) as described in Word’s help for printing multiple sections, or print the Current Page from File > Print for each page needed.

If other documents print ranges correctly and only this one misbehaves, the cause is almost certainly its internal page-numbering/section setup rather than a printer or driver issue.

References:

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