Use a screen reader to print presentations in PowerPoint

Read out loud symbol with the label Screen reader content. This topic is about using a screen reader with Office

This article is for people who use a screen reader program with the Office products and is part of the Office Accessibility content set. For more general help, see Office Support home.

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Use PowerPoint 2016 with your keyboard and Narrator, the built-in Windows screen reader, to print the slides, handouts, and notes pages for your presentation.

Notes:

New Office 365 features are released gradually to Office 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you could get new features faster, visit When do I get the newest features in Office 2016 for Office 365?.
For keyboard shortcuts, go to Use keyboard shortcuts to create PowerPoint presentations.
This topic assumes that you are using the built-in Windows screen reader, Narrator. To learn more about using Narrator, go to Get started with Narrator.
This topic makes note of the JAWS functionality as well. To learn more about JAWS for Windows, go to JAWS for Windows Quick Start Guide.
This topic assumes you are using this app with a PC. Some navigation and gestures might be different for a Windows phone or tablet.

Print your presentation

Whether you want to print slides, handouts, or notes pages of your presentation, you've come to the right place. Use the following steps to set up a print job that meets your needs:

To go to the Print frame, press Ctrl+P. PowerPoint places the focus on the Print button, and you hear "Backstage View, Print group box, Print button." (In Narrator, you hear "Print, Button.")
To specify the number of copies to print, you can either press the Tab key to move to the Copies spin box or press Alt+P, N. You hear "Copies colon edit spin box." (In Narrator, you hear "Copies, editing 1.") In the Copies spin control, type the number of copies you want to print.
To select a printer, you can either press the Tab key to move to the Printer control or press Alt+P, I. You hear the name of the selected printer. Use the Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys to move through the list of printers. (In Narrator, you hear "Select name of printer," the number of the selected printer, and the total number of printers available.)
If you don't hear the name of the printer that you want to use, press the Down Arrow to move through all listed printer options. After the list of printer options, You'll reach the Add printer link and the Print to file option .
- Press Enter to open the Find Printers dialog box, and use the Tab key to navigate.
- Press Spacebar to select Print to file. When you select the Print button, a File Explorer dialog opens for you to specify a file name.
Press the Tab key to move to the Settings group. Choose the settings you want. The following list provides links to more details later in this topic about each option:
By default, PowerPoint prints all the slides in your presentation as full page slides (one slide per page), using your default printer settings. To print with the current settings, press Alt+P, P.

Print settings

In the Settings group, you can specify settings for several options when printing:

Select the slides to print

To print the current slide or a specific set of slides, press Alt+P, A to select the Print All Slides option. You hear "Print all slides grid, 1 of 4." (In Narrator, you hear "Selected Print All Slides, 1 of 4.") To select another option, use the Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys to select from the following options:

Print Selection. You hear "Print selection grid, 2 of 4." (In Narrator, you hear "Print selection, 2 of 4.") This option only appears if you have already selected a set of slides.
Print Current Slide. You hear "Print current slide grid, 3 of 4." (In Narrator, you hear "Print current slide, 3 of 4.") This option prints only the current slide.
Custom Range. PowerPoint places the focus in the Slides text box. You hear "Custom range grid, 4 of 4." (In Narrator, you hear "Custom range, 4 of 4.") Type a range of slides to print, for example, 10-12 or 1,2,5.

Tip: If you have any hidden slides, the Print Hidden Slides option will be active so you can print hidden slides if you want to. You hear "Menu, Print Hidden Slide checked. To move through items, press Up or Down Arrow, P." (In Narrator, you hear "Print Hidden Slides.")

When you are finished making selections, to close the combo box, press Enter.

Print multiple slides on a page

To print more than one slide per page, press Alt+P, H. You hear "Full Page Slides grid, 1 of 3." (In Narrator, you hear "Full Page Slides, 1 of 3.")

In the Full Page Slides box, press Enter to open the gallery. The top row is the Print Layout section, followed by the Handouts section. Use the Left Arrow and Right Arrow keys to select from the following print layout options:

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 an audience. You hear "Notes pages grid, 2 of 3." (In Narrator, you hear "Notes pages, 2 of 3.") This option will print one slide per page with speaker notes printed below it.

The other options under Print Layout, and all of the options under Handouts, print only slides or slide content, not speaker notes.
Outline. Select this option to print in an outline format, which prints only the text in the slides, without images.

Press the Down Arrow key to move to the Handouts section, and then press the Tab key to select a layout. Press the Down Arrow key again to move to additional print layout options. When you are finished making selections, press Enter.

Set single-sided or double-sided printing

To set single-sided or double-sided printing, press Alt+P, D. You hear "Print one sided, 1 of 3." In the Print One-Sided list, select the option you want. (This option is only available if your printer supports double-sided printing. If you select double-sided printing, you hear "Print on both sides.")

Set collation and stapling

You'll only get the collating option if your printer supports it. To set collation, press Alt+P, C. Press the Down Arrow key and Up Arrow key to select from Collated (you hear "Collated, 1 of 2") or Uncollated (you hear "Uncollated"), and then press Enter. You'll only get this option if your printer supports collating.

You'll only get the stapling option if your printer supports it. To set stapling, press the Tab key to move to the Stapling combo box and press the Down Arrow key and Up Arrow key to select from options for No Staples, One Staple, or Two Staples.

Change page orientation

To change orientation, press Alt+P, R to open the Printer Properties dialog box.
Press the Tab key until you reach the Layout tab or the Paper\Quality tab, and if necessary, use the Right or Left Arrow to move to the Layout tab.
Press the Tab key once to reach the Orientation box, and select Portrait or Landscape.
Press the Tab key several times to move to the OK button, and then press Enter.

Print slides in black and white or grayscale

PowerPoint prints and displays in color by default but slides and handouts are often printed in black and white or shades of gray, also known as grayscale. You can print your whole presentation — the slides, outline, notes pages, and audience handouts — in color, grayscale, or pure black and white.

To print in grayscale or black and white, press Alt+P, O to open the Color combo box opens. Press the Down Arrow key and Up Arrow key to select the appropriate option, as described below:

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, choosing Grayscale will print all objects on the page in shades of gray. In grayscale, 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. There are no shades of gray. As a result, some objects in the design theme of the slide, 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.

In this topic

Print your presentation
Optimize printing

Print your presentation

Whether you're printing slides, handouts, or notes for your presentation, you can either print quickly with the default settings or use the great many ways PowerPoint 2016 for Mac offers to optimize the printing and the printouts.

In your presentation, press Command+P. You hear: "Print period, in dialog, window, <name of the presentation>, <selected printer>." The focus is on the selected printer.
To select a printer, press Spacebar. Press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear the printer you want to select, and then press Spacebar.
To specify the number of copies to print, press Tab. Type the number of copies you want to print.
By default, PowerPoint prints all the slides in your presentation as full page slides (one slide per page), using your default printer settings. To print with the current settings, press Tab until you hear "Print button" and then press Spacebar.

Optimize printing

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

In the Print dialog, press Tab until you hear "Show details button" and then press Spacebar. More printing options are now available.

Select a single slide to print

Save paper and print only the slides you need.

In the Print dialog, press Tab until you hear: "Print all slides."
Press Shift+Down arrow key until you hear "Custom shows, radio button" and then press Tab. You hear: "Edit text, blank."
Type the number of the slide you want to print.

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

Select a range of slides to print

Press Shift+Down arrow until you hear: "Print slides ranges."
Press Tab and then type the number of the first slide in the range.
Press Tab again and 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

In the Print dialog, press Tab until you hear "PowerPoint, PDE, popup button" and then press Spacebar.
Press the Down arrow key until you hear "Layout" and then press Spacebar.
Press Tab until you hear "Pages per sheet" and then press Spacebar.
Press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear the option you want to select, and then press Spacebar.

Print handouts

In Print dialog, press Tab until you hear "Layout to print" and then press Spacebar.
Press the Down arrow key until you hear the handout option you want to select, for example, "Handouts, four slides per page" and press 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.

In the Print dialog, press Tab until you hear "Two-sided, unchecked checkbox" and then press Spacebar. Long-edge binding is on by default.
To change the binding type for the two-sided printing, press Tab until you hear "PowerPoint, PDE, popup button" and then press Spacebar.
Press the Down arrow key until you hear "Layout" and then press Spacebar.
Press Tab until you hear "Off, two-sided" and then press Spacebar.
Press the Down arrow key until you hear the option you want to select and then press 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.

In the Print dialog, press Tab until you hear "PowerPoint, PDE, popup button" and then press Spacebar.
Press the Down arrow key until you hear "Paper handling" and then press Spacebar.
Press Tab until you hear "Off, collate pages" and then press Spacebar.

Change page orientation

In the Print dialog, press Tab until you hear: "<Current orientation>, Orientation."
To change the orientation, press the Left or Right arrow key to choose the other option, and then press Spacebar.

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.

In the Print dialog, press Tab until you hear "Color, output color format" and then press Spacebar.
Press the Down arrow key until you hear either "Grayscale" or "Black and white" and then press 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.

In the Print dialog, press Tab until you hear "Slides, layout" and then press Spacebar.
Press the Down arrow key until you hear "Notes" and then press Spacebar.

In this topic

Print your presentation
Select the slides to print

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, iPad, or iPod touch.

Make sure that your iPhone and printer are connected to the same Wi-Fi network.
In your presentation, swipe right or left until you hear "File button," and then double-tap the screen. The File menu opens.
Swipe right until you hear "Print button," and then double-tap the screen.
Swipe right and you hear: "AirPrint." Double-tap the screen. You hear: "Printer options, Cancel button."
Swipe 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.
To print using the default settings, in Printer Options menu, swipe right or left until you hear "Print button," and then double-tap the screen.

Select the slides to print

In the Printer Options menu, swipe right until you hear "Range, all pages button" and then double-tap the screen.
Swipe right until you hear "Pages <the number of the first slide in the current page range> - <the number of the last slide>" and then double-tap the screen.
Swipe right. You hear: "From page <the number of the first slide in the current page range>, picker item, adjustable."
To select the first slide to be printed, swipe up or down with one finger until you hear the number of the slide you want.
To select the last slide to be printed, swipe right. You hear: "To page <the number of the last slide in the current page range>, picker item, adjustable." Swipe up or down with one finger until you hear the number of the slide you want.
To return to the Print Options menu, swipe left until you hear "Printer options, back button," and then double-tap the screen. You hear: "Printer options, Range, Pages <the new page range>, button."

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.

Notes:

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.
USB, Bluetooth, and Windows network printing are not supported by Android. 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.

In the editing view, swipe right or left until you hear "Not checked, Back switch," and then double-tap the screen. The focus moves to the thumbnail view.
In the thumbnail view, swipe left until you hear "File, button," and then double-tap the screen. You hear: "File menu."
Swipe right until you hear "Print button," and double-tap the screen. The printing dialog opens.
Swipe right until you hear "Drop-down list," followed by the currently selected printer or "Save as PDF." Double-tap the screen to open the list of printing options. To cycle through the list, swipe right. When on the printer you want to use, double-tap the screen to select.
For additional options, such as selecting the number of copies and printing orientation, keep swiping right until you hear each option. Double-tap the screen to open the list of choices, swipe right to cycle through them, and double-tap the screen to select one.
When done, swipe right until you hear "Print button," and then double-tap the screen to start printing.

When you hear "PowerPoint window," your presentation has been printed and the focus returns to your presentation in the thumbnail view.

Print your presentation

Print your slides directly from your Windows phone to a Wi-Fi printer. To check that your printer is supported, refer to the list in this article: Supported Printers for Windows 10 Mobile. Also, make sure your phone and the printer are connected to the same Wi-Fi network.

In the presentation you want to print, swipe right or left until you hear: "File button."
Double-tap the screen to select the button. Narrator announces: "Backstage page pane, Go back button."
Swipe right until you hear "Print button" and double-tap the screen.
If this is the first time you're printing a PowerPoint presentation from your phone, a dialog opens asking for your permission to connect to an online service that prepares the file for printing. The focus is on the Allow button and Narrator announces: "To Continue window, Allow button." Double-tap the screen to continue printing.
The printer dialog opens, and Narrator announces: "Print dialog window." Swipe right to go to the printer selection field. Narrator announces: "Printer, combo box, collapsed." Double-tap the screen to open the list of printing options. To cycle through the list, swipe right. When on the printer you want to use, double-tap the screen to select.
For additional options, such as selecting the number of copies and printing orientation, keep swiping right until you hear each option. Double-tap the screen to open the list of choices, swipe right to cycle through them, and double-tap the screen to select one.

Tip: For selecting the paper size, swipe right until you hear "More settings," and double-tap the screen. Then swipe right again until you reach Paper size and double-tap the screen to open the list of choices. To cycle through them, swipe right. To select an option, double-tap the screen.
When done, swipe right repeatedly until Narrator announces: "Print button." Double-tap the screen to select the button and start printing. Narrator announces: "Print dialog window," and the print job is being sent to the printer.

When you hear: "PowerPoint window," your presentation has been printed and you're taken back to your presentation in Reading View.

In this topic

Print a presentation from the Editing view or Preview
Print a presentation from the Reading view

Print a presentation from the Editing view or Preview

In your presentation, press Alt+Windows logo key, F, P. The Print menu opens.
Press the Tab key until you hear the printing option you want, and then press Enter. You hear: "Dialog, Microsoft PowerPoint Online." The focus is on a link to a printable PDF.
Press Enter. The PDF File - Print dialog opens.
To move through the options, press the Tab key. To expand option menus, press Alt+Down arrow key, and to make a selection, press Enter.
To print, press the Tab key until you hear "Print button," and then press Enter.

Print a presentation from the Reading view

In the presentation, press Ctrl+F6 until you hear "Edit presentation."
Press the Tab key until you hear "Print to PDF," and then press Enter. You hear: "Dialog, Microsoft PowerPoint Online." The focus is on a link to a printable PDF.
Press Enter. The PDF File - Print dialog opens.
To move through the options, press the Tab key. To expand option menus, press Alt+Down arrow key, and to make a selection, press Enter.
To print, press the Tab key until you hear "Print button," and then press Enter.

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.

Tuesday, September 18, 2018