Word 2013 forgets printer settings

Anonymous
2013-05-19T14:17:35+00:00

In past versions I would set the printer settings for a document and it would remember it so reprints default to the last used settings.  How do I set Word 2013 to do the same?

In particular I like to use double sided printing.

Thanks.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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  1. Suzanne S Barnhill 279.2K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2013-06-22T17:03:10+00:00

    It has never been possible to do this in Word. When started, Word always defaults to the Windows default printer and the settings selected in the printer Properties, and it is not possible to save specific settings with a given document (Publisher can do this). If you were doing this before, you must have been using a macro. If you are selecting these settings through the Printers folder in Windows, they should be the default for all applications, not just Word.

    To clarify, no settings in the Print dialog (or the Backstage Print tab) can be saved in Word or with a document. Settings that can be saved with a document are found in the Page Setup dialog. These include tray settings and of course paper size.

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-06-22T16:21:47+00:00

    A month on and this is still a problem, people in the office are sending documents to be printed only to find the wrong settings are used, returning to their desks, changing the settings to their requirements, printing again, walking back to the printer to collect their print again.

    In recent years office communities have been persuaded to use as little paper and energy as possible.  A printer probably represents the most resource hungry device, in our case each floor has a Toshiba eStudio 6550, one of the larger machines yet economical with features such as wake-up on lan.

    It is nothing short of appalling that Word 2013 is responsible for such waste, not just paper and time but the additional power consumption too.

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-05-20T06:43:03+00:00

    Thanks for the reply but I don't see how that helps.  The problem is settings selected are forgotten between printing sessions, previous versions of Word remembered them and this one doesn't (or at least the ones we have installed do not).  If there is a setting to remember settings where will I find it?

    The inconvenience and financial implications will be high if this is ignored.  In previous versions we could set defaults such as multiple pages and double sided printing knowing that each document would be printed the same way.  Only if we had a specific need for something different would we have to edit the settings.  But now, the settings return to a default and we appear to have no control over.

    Any help in solving this would be appreciated.

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  4. Doug Robbins - MVP - Office Apps and Services 323.6K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2013-05-19T22:41:31+00:00

    Options such as that are set in the Printer Properties dialog that you can access by clicking on Properties in the Backstage Print (File>Print) view.

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