Use a screen reader to print presentations in PowerPoint

This article is for people who use a screen reader program such as Windows Narrator, JAWS, or NVDA with Microsoft 365 products. This article is part of the Microsoft 365 screen reader support content set where you can find more accessibility information on our apps. For general help, visit Microsoft Support.

Use PowerPoint with your keyboard and a screen reader to print the slides, handouts, and notes pages for your presentation. We have tested it with Narrator, JAWS, and NVDA, but it might work with other screen readers as long as they follow common accessibility standards and techniques.

Notes: 

In this topic

Print your presentation

You can print slides, handouts, or notes pages of your presentation using the default settings or customize the printing settings.

Print your presentation using default settings 

By default, PowerPoint prints all the slides in your presentation as full page slides (one slide per page).

  1. In your presentation, press Ctrl+P. The Print menu opens and PowerPoint places the focus on the Print button.

  2. To print your presentation with the default settings, press Enter.

Print your presentation using customized settings

You can specify the number of copies you want, select the range of slides to print, set the page orientation, and more.

  1. In your presentation, press Ctrl+P. The Print menu opens and PowerPoint places the focus on the Print button.

  2. To specify the number of copies to print, press the Tab key until you hear "Copies," and then type the number of copies you want.

  3. To select a printer, press the Tab key until you hear "Printer," followed by the name of the currently selected printer. Press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear the name of the printer you want, and then press Enter. If you don't hear the name of the printer that you want to use, you can add a new printer to the list. For instructions, refer to Add a new printer.

  4. To choose your printing settings, press the Tab key until you hear "Settings," and then do one or more of the following:

    Note: The available options depend on your printer type and model.

  5. To print your presentation, press the Tab key or Shift+Tab until you hear "Print button," and then press Enter. 

Optimize printing

You can customize the printing settings to better suite your printing needs.

Add a new printer

  1. In the Print menu, to move to focus to the Printer list, do one of the following:

    • Press the Tab key until you hear "Printer," followed by the name of the currently selected printer.

    • Press Alt+P, I.

  2. Press the Down arrow key until you hear "Add printer," and then press Enter. The Printers & scanners page opens, and the focus is on the Add device button.

  3. Press Enter. The list of available printers is displayed. Press the Tab key or arrow keys until you hear the name of the printer you want, and then press Enter.

Print to file

If you want to quickly make a PDF copy of your presentation, you can choose to print it to file, and the copy is saved to a file folder, for example. 

  1. In the Print menu, to move to focus to the Printer list, do one of the following:

    • Press the Tab key until you hear "Printer," followed by the name of the currently selected printer.

    • Press Alt+P, I.

  2. Press the Down arrow key until you hear "Print to file," and then press Enter.

  3. Press Shift+Tab until you hear "Print button," and then press Enter. The Print to File dialog box opens. The focus is on the File name text field.

  4. Type a descriptive name for the file.

  5. Use the Tab key and the arrow keys to navigate to the file location you want.

  6. When in the right location, press Alt+S to save and print the presentation to file.

Select the slides to print

  1. In the Print menu, press Alt+P, A. You hear the currently selected option, for example, “Print all slides.”

  2. Use the Up or Down arrow keys browse the list of options. The following options are available:

    • Print All Slides. Select this option to print all slides in the presentation.

    • Print Selection. Select this option to print the current selection. This option only appears if you have already selected a set of slides.

    • Print Current Slide. Select this option to print only the current slide.

    • Custom Range. Select this option to specify the slides you want to print by the slide number.

    • Print Hidden Slides. Select this option to print hidden slides. This option only appears if you have hidden slides in your presentation.

  3. When on the option you want, press Enter. If you selected Custom Range, PowerPoint places the focus in the Slides text box. Type a range of slides to print, for example, 10-12 or 1,2,5.

Print multiple slides on a page

  1. In the Print menu, press Alt+P, H. You hear: “Print layout,” followed by the currently selected print layout.

  2. Do one of the following:

    • Use the Right or Left arrow key browse the list of print layout options. The following print layout options are available:

      • Full Page Slides. Select this option to print each slide on its own page.

      • Notes Pages. Select this option to print slide notes, either for a speaker or as handouts for your audience. This option prints one slide per page with speaker notes printed below it.

        Tip: The other options in the Print Layout list and all of the options in the Handouts list print only slides or slide content, not speaker notes.

      • Outline. Select this option if you want to print only the text in your slides, without images.

    • Use the arrow keys to browse the available handout layouts.

  3. When on the option you want to use, press Enter.

Set single-sided or double-sided printing

The option to choose between single- and double-sided printing is only available if your printer supports double-sided printing. 

  1. In the Print menu, press Alt+P, D.

  2. Press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear the option you want, and then press Enter.

Set collation

The option to specify the collating settings is available only if your printer supports collating.

  1. In the Print menu, press Alt+P, C.

  2. Press the Down or Up arrow key until you hear the option you want, and then press Enter.

Change page orientation

  1. In the Print menu, press Alt+P, O.

  2. Press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear the option you want, and then press Enter.

Print slides in color, black and white, or grayscale

You can print your whole presentation — the slides, outline, notes pages, and audience handouts — in color, grayscale, or pure black and white.

  1. In the Print menu, press Alt+P, Y, 1. The menu for selecting the color mode opens.

  2. Press the Down and Up arrow keys until you hear the option you want. The following options are available:

    • Color. If you choose the Color option but don’t have a color printer, the printout will be similar to, but not of the same quality as, a printout in grayscale.

    • Grayscale. If you don’t have a color printer or don’t require a color printout, choose Grayscale to print all objects on the page in shades of gray. Objects such as charts and tables will appear crisper and cleaner than if you choose the Color option on a noncolor printer.

    • Pure Black and White. This option prints slides in black and white without any shades of gray. As a result, some objects in the slide design theme, such as embossing and drop shadows, will not print. Text will print as black even if you choose gray as the original color of the text.

See also

Use a screen reader to add and format text in PowerPoint

Use a screen reader to insert and edit pictures and tables in PowerPoint

Use keyboard shortcuts to create PowerPoint presentations

Use keyboard shortcuts to deliver PowerPoint presentations

Basic tasks to create a presentation in PowerPoint with a screen reader

Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate PowerPoint

Use PowerPoint with your keyboard and VoiceOver, the built-in macOS screen reader, to print the slides, handouts, and notes pages of your presentation.

Notes: 

  • New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.

  • This topic assumes that you are using the built-in macOS screen reader, VoiceOver. To learn more about using VoiceOver, go to VoiceOver Getting Started Guide.

  • The availability of the printing options described in this topic depend on the features of your printer. For details, refer to the printer manual.

In this topic

Print your presentation using default print settings

You can print your presentation quickly with the default settings. To learn how to change and optimize the print settings, refer to Optimize printing.

  1. In your presentation, press Command+P. You hear "Print, in dialog," followed by the name of the selected printer. The focus is on the Printer dropdown menu.

  2. If you want to change the printer, press Control+Option+Spacebar. Press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear the printer you want to select, and then press Control+Option+Spacebar.

  3. To specify the number of copies to print, press the Tab key once. You hear the currently selected number of copies. Type the number of copies you want to print.

  4. By default, PowerPoint prints all the slides in your presentation as full page slides (one slide per page). To print with the current settings, press the Tab key until you hear "Print button," and then press Control+Option+Spacebar.

Optimize printing

By default, the print dialog box shows only the basic printing options. You can easily access the hidden printing details and optimize printing.

Access all printing options 

  1. To open the print dialog box, press Command+P.

  2. To access all printing options, press the Tab key until you hear "Show details button," and then press Control+Option+Spacebar. All printing options and details are now available.

Select a single slide to print

Save paper and print only the slides you need.

  1. In the printing details dialog box, press the Tab key until you hear: "Print all slides."

    Tip: To print the currently selected slide, press the Down arrow key until you hear "Print selected slides," and then press Control+Option+Spacebar.

  2. Press the Down arrow key until you hear "Custom shows, selected, radio button," and then press the Tab key until you hear: "Edit text, blank."

  3. Type the number of the slide you want to print.

Select a range of slides to print

  1. In the printing details dialog box, press the Tab key until you hear: "Print all slides."

  2. Press the Down arrow key until you hear: "Print slides range."

  3. Press the Tab key once, and then type the number of the first slide in the range.

  4. Press the Tab key once, and then type the number of the last slide in the range.

Print multiple slides on a page

You can print multiple slides on one page either as full slides or as handouts.

Print multiple full slides on a page

  1. In the printing details dialog box, press the Tab key until you hear: "Layout to print, popup button."

  2. Press the Down arrow key until you hear "Layout," and then press Control+Option+Spacebar.

  3. Press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear the option you want to select, and then press Control+Option+Spacebar.

Print handouts

  1. In the printing details dialog box, press the Tab key until you hear: "Layout to print, popup button."

  2. Press the Down arrow key until you hear the handout option you want to select, for example, "Handouts, four slides per page," and press Control+Option+Spacebar.

Set two-sided printing

You can print on both sides of the paper also when you've selected to print several slides on a page.

Note: This feature is available only if it is supported by your printer and it is turned on in the printer settings. For details, refer to your printer's manual or contact your company IT department for help.

  1. In the printing details dialog box, press the Tab key until you hear "Two-sided, unchecked checkbox," and then press Control+Option+Spacebar. Long-edge binding is on by default.

  2. To change the binding type for the two-sided printing, press the Tab key until you hear "Layout," and then press the Down arrow key until you hear "Off, two-sided," and then press Control+Option+Spacebar.

  3. Press the Down arrow key until you hear the option you want to select and then press Control+Option+Spacebar.

Set collation

If you need to print several copies of your slides, you can select whether to print the slides of one copy before printing the others.

Note: This feature is available only if it is supported by your printer and it is turned on in the printer settings. For details, refer to your printer's manual or contact your company IT department for help.

  1. In the printing details dialog box, press the Tab key until you hear: "Paper handling, popup button."

  2. Press the Down arrow key until you hear "Off, collate pages," and then press Control+Option+Spacebar.

Change page orientation

  1. In the printing details dialog box, press the Tab key until you hear the current orientation, for example, "Landscape orientation."

  2. To change the orientation, press Control+Option+Left or Right arrow key to choose the other option.

Print slides in black and white or grayscale

You can print your whole presentation, the slides, notes pages, and audience handouts in grayscale, or black and white.

  1. In the printing details dialog box, press the Tab key until you hear: "Output color format."

  2. Press the Down arrow key until you hear either "Grayscale" or "Black and white," and then press Control+Option+Spacebar.

Print slides with speaker notes

By default, the slides are printed without the speaker notes. You can quickly change the settings and provide your audience the notes, too.

  1. In the printing details dialog box, press the Tab key until you hear: "Layout to print."

  2. Press the Down arrow key until you hear "Notes," and then press Control+Option+Spacebar.

See also

Use a screen reader to insert and edit pictures and tables in PowerPoint

Use a screen reader to show your presentation with PowerPoint

Use keyboard shortcuts to create PowerPoint presentations

Use keyboard shortcuts to deliver PowerPoint presentations

Basic tasks to create a presentation in PowerPoint with a screen reader

Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate PowerPoint

Use PowerPoint with VoiceOver, the built-in iOS screen reader, to quickly print your slides from your iPhone to a nearby printer. You can also change the default printing settings in PowerPoint to, for example, select the slides to print.

Notes: 

  • New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.

  • This topic assumes that you are using the built-in iOS screen reader, VoiceOver. To learn more about using VoiceOver, visit Apple accessibility.

  • The availability of the printing options described in this topic depend on the features of your printer. For details, refer to the printer manual.

In this topic

Print your presentation

Print your slides directly from your iPhone to a printer that supports AirPrint. To learn more about AirPrint and the supported printers, refer to Use AirPrint to print from your iPhone or iPad.

Print your presentation with default print settings 

You can quickly print your slides with the default layout, orientation, and color options.

  1. Make sure that your iPhone and printer are connected to the same Wi-Fi network.

  2. In your presentation, tap near the top of the screen with four fingers. Swipe right until you hear "File button," and then double-tap the screen.

  3. Swipe right until you hear "Print button," and double-tap the screen.

  4. Swipe right until you hear "AirPrint button," and double-tap the screen. The Layout Options dialog box opens. 

  5. Swipe right until you hear "Next button," and double-tap the screen. The Print Options dialog box opens.

  6. Swipe right until you hear "Printer, Select printer button," and then double-tap the screen. The list of available AirPrint printers opens. Swipe right until you hear the printer you want to select, and then double-tap the screen.

  7. To specify the number of copies you want to print, swipe right until you hear "Decrement" or "Increment," and double-tap the screen to change the value by one.

  8. To start printing, in the Print Options dialog box, tap near the top of the screen with four fingers, swipe right until you hear "Print button," and then double-tap the screen.

Print your presentation with customized print settings 

You can change the page layout, orientation, and color mode to customize how the printouts will look. 

  1. Make sure that your iPhone and printer are connected to the same Wi-Fi network.

  2. In your presentation, tap near the top of the screen with four fingers. Swipe right until you hear "File button," and then double-tap the screen.

  3. Swipe right until you hear "Print button," and then double-tap the screen.

  4. Swipe right until you hear "AirPrint button," and double-tap the screen. The Layout Options dialog box opens. You can now change the page layout, orientation, or color.

  5. If you want to review or change the page layout, swipe right until you hear the currently selected layout option, and then do one of the following:

    • If you're happy with the current selection, proceed to step 6.

    • If you want to change the layout, slide one finger on the top part of the screen until you hear the layout you want, and double-tap the screen to select.

    • If you don't hear a suitable layout, swipe right until you hear the number of the current options page, followed by "Adjustable," for example "Page one of three, adjustable." Swipe up or down with one finger to move the focus to another options page and then slide one finger on the top part of the screen to find the layout you want. When on the correct layout option, double-tap the screen to select.

  6. If you want to change the page orientation, swipe right until you hear "Page orientation," followed by the currently selected orientation, and then double-tap the screen. Swipe right or left until you hear the option you want, and double-tap the screen.

  7. If you want to set the printing color mode, swipe right until you hear "Page color," followed by the currently selected mode, and double-tap the screen. Swipe right or left until you hear the color mode you want, and then double-tap the screen.

  8. When you're happy with your selections, tap near the top of the screen with four fingers, swipe right until you hear "Next button," and double-tap the screen. The Print Options dialog box opens.

  9. Swipe right until you hear: "Printer, select printer button." Double-tap the screen. The list of available AirPrint printers opens. Swipe right until you hear the printer you want to select, and then double-tap the screen.

  10. To specify the number of copies you want to print, swipe right until you hear "Decrement" or "Increment," and double-tap the screen to change the value by one.

  11. To start printing, in the Print Options dialog box, tap near the top of the screen with four fingers, swipe right until you hear "Print button," and then double-tap the screen.

Select the slides to print

If you don't want to print all slides in your presentation, you can select the range you want to print. 

  1. In the Print Options dialog box, swipe right until you hear "Range," followed by the current value, and then double-tap the screen.

  2. Swipe right until you hear the number of the first slide in the current page range, followed by "Adjustable." To change the value, swipe up or down with one finger until you hear the slide number you want.

  3. Swipe right until you hear the number of the last slide in the current page range, followed by "Adjustable." To change the value, swipe up or down with one finger until you hear the slide number you want.

See also

Use a screen reader to add and format text in PowerPoint

Use a screen reader to insert and edit pictures and tables in PowerPoint

Use keyboard shortcuts to create PowerPoint presentations

Basic tasks to create a presentation in PowerPoint with a screen reader

Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate PowerPoint

Use PowerPoint for Android with TalkBack, the built-in Android screen reader, to quickly print slides from your phone.

Notes: 

  • New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.

  • This topic assumes that you are using the built-in Android screen reader, TalkBack. To learn more about using TalkBack, go to Android accessibility.

Print your presentation

Print your slides directly from your Android phone to a compatible printer. Make sure your phone and the printer are connected to the same Wi-Fi network. You can print your presentation from the editing view or from the reading view.

Note: These instructions apply only to printers supported by Android and Google Cloud Print. To check if your printer is supported, go to Cloud-ready printers. Android does not support USB, Bluetooth, or Windows network printing. Google recommends setting up Cloud Print on a PC connected to such a printer. If you want to print to such a printer directly, you will have to use a third-party app.

  1. Do one of the following:

    • To print from the editing view, swipe left or right until you hear "More options menu," and then double-tap the screen. You hear: "New slide button."

    • To print from the reading view, swipe left or right until you hear "Menu," and double-tap the screen. You hear: "Notes button."

  2. Swipe right until you hear "Print button," and double-tap the screen. The printing dialog box opens.

  3. To select the printer, swipe right or left until you hear "Dropdown list," followed by the currently selected printer or "Save as PDF." Double-tap the screen to open the list of available printers and other printing options. To cycle through the list, swipe right or left. When on the printer you want to use, double-tap the screen to select.

  4. To select the number of copies, paper size, color, printing orientation, mode, and range, swipe right until you hear "Summary," followed by the currently selected number of copies and paper size. Double-tap the screen. The print options handle is expanded. To review or change the print options, do one or more of the following:

    • To specify the number of copies, swipe right or left until you hear the current number of copies, followed by "Edit box for copies." Double-tap the screen and then use the on-screen keyboard to type the number you want.

    • To select the paper size, swipe right or left until you hear the currently selected paper size, followed by "For paper size." Double-tap the screen, swipe right or left until you hear the size you want, and then double-tap the screen to select.

    • To select the printing orientation, swipe right or left until you hear the currently selected orientation, followed by "For orientation." Double-tap the screen, swipe right or left until you hear the orientation you want, and then double-tap the screen to select.

    • To select the print color, swipe right or left until you hear the currently selected color mode, followed by "For color." Double-tap the screen, swipe right or left until you hear the color mode you want, and then double-tap the screen to select.

    • To specify which slides to print, swipe right or left until you hear the currently selected printing range, followed by "For pages." Double-tap the screen, swipe right or left until you hear the range you want, and then double-tap the screen to select.

    • To select one-sided or two-sided printing, swipe right or left until you hear the currently selected printing mode, followed by "For two-sided." Double-tap the screen, swipe right or left until you hear the mode you want, and then double-tap the screen to select.

  5. When done, to collapse the print options handle, swipe right until you hear "Collapse handle," and double-tap the screen.

  6. To print the slides or save them as a PDF file, swipe right until you hear either "Print button" or "Save to PDF," and then double-tap the screen.

See also

Use a screen reader to work with slides in PowerPoint

Use a screen reader to insert and edit pictures and tables in PowerPoint

Use keyboard shortcuts to create PowerPoint presentations

Basic tasks to create a presentation in PowerPoint with a screen reader

Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate PowerPoint

Use PowerPoint for the web with your keyboard and a screen reader to print your slides. We have tested it with Narrator in Microsoft Edge and JAWS and NVDA in Chrome, but it might work with other screen readers and web browsers as long as they follow common accessibility standards and techniques.

Notes: 

  • New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.

  • To learn more about screen readers, go to How screen readers work with Microsoft 365.

  • Switch the Narrator scan mode off to use the keyboard shortcuts. Press the SR key+Spacebar to toggle the scan mode off or on.

  • When you use PowerPoint for the web with a screen reader, switch to the full screen mode. Press F11 to toggle the full screen on or off.

  • When you use PowerPoint for the web, we recommend that you use Microsoft Edge as your web browser. Because PowerPoint for the web runs in your web browser, the keyboard shortcuts are different from those in the desktop program. For example, you’ll use Ctrl+F6 instead of F6 for jumping in and out of the commands. Also, common shortcuts like F1 (Help) and Ctrl+O (Open) apply to the web browser – not PowerPoint for the web.

Print a presentation

You can print your slides with or without notes or as handouts.

  1. In your presentation, do one of the following:

    • To print full page slides, one slide per page, press Alt+Windows logo key, F, P, and R.

    • To print the slides with the notes pages, press Alt+Windows logo key, F, P, and N.

    • To print your slides as handouts, press Alt+Windows logo key, F, P, and H.

      Tip: Instead of using the keyboard shortcuts listed above, you can press Alt+Windows logo key, F, P to open the Print menu. To move to focus to menu, press the Tab key once. To navigate to the option you want, press the Down or Up arrow key, and then press Enter to select.

  2. You hear: "Microsoft PowerPoint, all done, your file is ready to print." The focus is on the Open PDF button. Press Enter. The Print dialog box opens.

  3. You can now select the printer, number of copies, page layout, the range to print, and more. To move through the options in the dialog box, press the Tab key. To expand option menus, press Alt+Down arrow key. To make a selection, press Enter.

  4. To print, press the Tab key until you hear "Print button," and then press Enter.

See also

Use a screen reader to work with slides in PowerPoint

Use a screen reader to add and format text in PowerPoint

Use keyboard shortcuts to create PowerPoint presentations

Use keyboard shortcuts to deliver PowerPoint presentations

Basic tasks to create a presentation in PowerPoint with a screen reader

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate PowerPoint

Technical support for customers with disabilities

Microsoft wants to provide the best possible experience for all our customers. If you have a disability or questions related to accessibility, please contact the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk for technical assistance. The Disability Answer Desk support team is trained in using many popular assistive technologies and can offer assistance in English, Spanish, French, and American Sign Language. Please go to the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk site to find out the contact details for your region.

If you are a government, commercial, or enterprise user, please contact the enterprise Disability Answer Desk.

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