There are situations when landscape page orientation is your best option. Here is what you should do when Google Docs won’t print landscape.
Page orientation on Google Docs can be either Potriat (8.5 X 11) or Landscape ( 11 X 8.5)
The former is the default formatting on the word processor and what we use for most of the Google documents we create daily.
That said, there are situations where the default, portrait orientation won’t be ideal for the type of content you are trying to create.
Often, it is because you need extra horizontal space to display a table, graph, image, certificate, or invoice.
Luckily, once you know where to find the right menu options, switching from portrait orientation to landscape is a straightforward process.
This article explains what to do when Google Docs won’t print landscape and also provides a nifty workaround for people who want to alternate page orientation formats from portrait to landscape on the same document.
Here are the questions people are asking about printing landscape documents on Google Docs:
Google Docs lets you change the page orientation of your document from Portrait to Landscape under Page Setup.
When you are ready to switch back to portrait mode, you just have to follow the same process.
You can print in landscape by changing your page orientation by navigating to File > Page setup on your toolbar and toggling Landscape.
If it’s still printing in Potriat, then you will have to check the Printing Preferences setting on your device and your printer connection.
Here are the tools and resources you will need to start printing documents in landscape mode:
I should first point out that once you select a page orientation (portrait or landscape), it affects your whole document or a highlighted section.
You can’t change the orientation of each individual page using the in-built settings.
There is a relatively time-consuming workaround that lets you alter the orientation of individual pages on your document and I will explain how that works in a different section.
Here is the standard two-step process for reformatting your Google Doc into landscape orientation on desktop and mobile.
Open the file your want to work on.
You can open the document directly on Google Docs or via Google Drive.
Once the Google Docs file is opened, go to File > Page setup.
The Page setup settings box should show up on your screen.
It gives you options to modify the paper size, paper color, margins, and orientation of your document or the highlighted part of your page.
Under Orientation, choose Landscape and then click the OK button.
If you want all subsequent documents to be in the landscape format, you can make it the default page orientation for your Google Docs app.
To do that, click Landscape > Set as default > OK.
One more thing you may need to change is the margins of the page elements on your document.
This is because, while the dimensions of the sides of your document have changed, your tables, images, and graphs will retain the same position.
They will likely look out of place on your newly modified pages, and they must be adjusted.
You can make adjustments, by selecting the image, table, or graph, and dragging the boxes at the four edges to stretch the page element across the page till you are satisfied.
You can also change the Google Docs page orientation on your mobile device.
The process is similar on Android and iOS.
Here’s what you need to do:
To print out your pages, go to File > Print via your toolbar.
You could also use the Ctrl + P (Windows) or Command + P (macOS) keyboard shortcut.
In the Print window, you will choose the pages you want to print, page color, paper size, destination, and more.
Attach your printer, select it from the destination field, and make any necessary formatting adjustments.
Then, click Print and your pages will be printed.
If you are unable to print in landscape mode, you may need to first access the printer settings on your desktop device to switch your printing orientation from portrait to landscape.
Below, I will show you how to do that on Windows and macOS devices.
On Windows:
On macOS
The process will require some repetitive effort on your part.
Here is what you need to do:
I believe this article has shown you that formatting page orientation on Google Docs is very easy.
You also now know how to alternate page orientation options between individual pages on the same document.
If you have any further questions on how to use both Google Docs page orientation types, feel free to reach out in the comments section.