Word: Fix Text Cut Off or Margins Outside the Printable Area When Printing

When you print, Word warns that “one or more margins are set outside the printable area,” or the text near the edges gets clipped off the page.

What it means: Your margins are set closer to the paper edge than the printer can physically reach. Every printer has an unprintable border, so anything inside it gets cut off.

Fix 1: Let Word correct the margins for you

1. When the warning dialog appears, click Fix.
2. Word raises each too-small margin to the smallest value your printer allows.
3. Print again.

This is the fastest fix and uses your printer’s own minimums.

Fix 2: Set the margins yourself

If you skipped the dialog, or want exact values:

1. Go to the Layout tab and click Margins.
2. Pick a preset (Word’s default is Normal, a 1-inch margin all round), or choose Custom Margins at the bottom.
3. In Custom Margins, increase the Top, Bottom, Left, and Right values so they sit inside the printable area, then click OK.

As a guide to minimums: most laser printers (such as an HP LaserJet) can’t print closer than about 0.25 inch to any edge, and many inkjet/DeskJet printers need roughly 0.67 inch clearance at the bottom. Check your printer’s manual for exact figures.

Fix 3: Only one section is wrong

Long documents can have several sections with different margins. The warning names the section that’s out of range.

1. Click inside that section of the document.
2. Open Layout > Margins > Custom Margins and widen the margins.
3. Under Apply to, choose This section so you only change the problem section.

FAQ

Why can’t the printer just print to the edge? Most printers grip the paper and leave a small non-printing border all the way around. “Borderless” printing is a special mode only some photo printers support.

My header or footer is being cut off, not the body text. Headers and footers sit in the top/bottom margin. In Custom Margins, increase the Top/Bottom margin, or reduce the Header/Footer distance-from-edge setting on the Layout tab of the same dialog.

Will Fix change how my document looks? It only nudges margins enough to fit the printable area, so line breaks may shift slightly. Review the document afterward if layout matters.

Sources: Microsoft Support — You receive an error message when margins are set outside the printable area in Word · Microsoft Support — Change margins