10 Paper-Saving Tips
- Enable duplex printing by default
- Use print preview before printing
- Print N-up (multiple pages per sheet)
- Print only the pages you need
- Optimize margins and font size
- Use PDF instead of printing
- Print in draft mode for internal docs
- Proofread before printing
- Use a print management tool
- Set duplex as the printer default
The average office worker prints about 10,000 sheets per year. That's 5 reams, a lot of weight in the recycling bin, and a real cost to your company budget. But most of those prints aren't necessary. With a few habit tweaks and some printer settings changes, you can cut paper use by 30-50% without sacrificing productivity. Here's how.
Enable Duplex Printing by Default
The single biggest paper saver: printing on both sides of every sheet immediately halves your paper consumption. Set your printer to duplex by default (see our Complete Guide) and every print job becomes more efficient without any extra effort. Use DuplexReady if your printer lacks automatic duplexing, it makes manual duplex printing fast and error-free.
Saves up to 50% paperAlways Use Print Preview
Before clicking Print, press Ctrl+P and look at the preview. You'll often catch extra blank pages, cut-off content, or formatting issues that would waste paper. This simple habit catches unnecessary print jobs before they happen. Browser print previews also let you remove headers and footers to fit more content per page.
Prevents wasted misprintsPrint Multiple Pages Per Sheet (N-Up)
In almost any print dialog, you can print 2, 4, or even 6 document pages on a single sheet of paper. For draft documents, presentations, or reference materials you won't present to clients, 2-up printing halves your paper use while keeping everything readable. In Chrome: More settings → Pages per sheet → 2. In Word: under the print dialog, look for "Pages Per Sheet".
Saves 50-75% paperPrint Only the Pages You Need
Long reports, PDFs, and web articles often have irrelevant pages, title pages, blank pages, boilerplate appendices. Use the page range selector in the print dialog to print only the pages with content you actually need. For web pages, use "Print selection" in Chrome (highlight what you need, Ctrl+P → "Selection" option).
Saves 10-40% on long documentsReduce Margins and Font Size
Default Word documents use 1-inch margins on all sides, which wastes significant page real estate. Reduce margins to 0.75" or 0.5" and reduce the font size by 1pt. This can reduce a 5-page document to 4 pages, a 20% paper saving with no loss of readability. Use Page Layout → Margins → Narrow in Word for a quick win.
Saves 10-20% on most documentsShare Digitally Instead of Printing
Before printing a report, ask: does this need to be physical? Email, Slack, OneDrive, and Google Drive let you share documents without printing. For meeting notes, use a shared doc. For agendas, send a PDF. For presentations, share the file. The greenest print is one that never happens.
Eliminates the print entirelyUse Draft Mode for Internal Documents
Draft or Economy print mode uses significantly less ink but produces perfectly readable output. For internal memos, working drafts, or anything reviewed internally before a final version, draft mode saves both ink and paper curl (less ink = flatter pages = less likely to jam). Set it in Printer Preferences → Quality → Draft.
Saves ink; reduces 2nd-pass jamsProofread and Spell Check Before Printing
A surprisingly common cause of paper waste is reprinting due to errors caught after the fact. Run a spell check in Word (F7), use Grammarly for grammar, and do one final read-through of the digital version before printing. Developing this habit can save dozens of reprinted pages per month.
Prevents reprinting wasteUse a Print Management Tool (Office)
For offices with multiple printers, print management software (PaperCut, Pharos, UniPrint) tracks print jobs, enforces duplex defaults, and can require users to confirm large jobs before printing. These tools typically reduce office print volume by 20-30% just by making printing deliberate rather than automatic.
20-30% office-wide reductionSet Duplex as the System Default
Don't just enable duplex per-job, make it the default for every job. In Windows: right-click your printer → Printing Defaults → enable two-sided. On Mac: System Settings → Printers & Scanners → your printer → set Two-Sided as default. Now every print job automatically uses both sides unless you specifically change it.
Zero-effort ongoing savingStart saving paper today
Enable duplex printing on any printer, even ones without auto-duplexing, with DuplexReady.
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