Why won't my PDF print?

The usual reasons: the file is restricted or needs a password, it's damaged, a save-as-PDF printer is selected instead of your real one, or it's so big the printer stalls. Try printing it from your browser first. If that works, the problem is your PDF app or printer driver, not the file.

How do I print a PDF on my Mac?

Double-click it so it opens in Preview, then press Cmd+P or choose File > Print. Pick your printer, set the pages and copies, and click Print.

How do I print multiple PDF files at once?

Combine them into one PDF with PrintFriendly's Merge PDF tool, put them in the order you want, then print that one file. You send one print job instead of opening each file.

How to print a PDF on any computer or phone

Q: How do I print specific pages of a PDF?

In the print dialog, switch Pages from All to a range. Chrome, Edge and Acrobat Reader take a list like 1-3, 7. Preview on a Mac asks for a first and last page.

Here's how to print a PDF, the short version: open it, press Ctrl+P (Windows or a Chromebook) or Cmd+P (Mac), pick your printer and click Print. That works in nearly every PDF app and browser.

The longer version is below: where your PDF actually opens on each device, the print settings that save paper and headaches, and what to try when a PDF flat out refuses to print.

How to print a PDF on Windows

Double-click a PDF on a Windows PC and it usually opens in Microsoft Edge, because that's the default PDF viewer. If you've installed Adobe Acrobat Reader, it opens there instead.

Either way it's the same move:

Press Ctrl+P, or click the printer icon in the toolbar (in Acrobat Reader, File > Print works too).
Choose your printer.
Set the pages and number of copies.
Click Print.

One thing trips people up here. Microsoft Print to PDF shows up in the printer list, but it isn't a printer. It saves a new PDF file instead of putting anything on paper. If you clicked Print and got a "save as" window, that's why: pick your real printer and try again.

How to print a PDF on a Mac

On a Mac, PDFs open in Preview unless you've changed that.

Double-click the PDF to open it in Preview.
Press Cmd+P, or choose File > Print.
Pick your printer at the top.
Set the pages and copies, and turn on two-sided printing if your printer can do it.
Click Print.

The rest of the options (pages per sheet, scaling, paper size) sit further down the dialog. On some Macs you click Show Details to see them all.

Acrobat Reader on a Mac works the same as on Windows: Cmd+P or File > Print.

In Chrome, another browser, or Google Drive

Click a PDF link or an email attachment and it often opens right in your browser. Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari all have a built-in PDF viewer. In Chrome and Edge there's a printer icon in the toolbar above the document, or just press Ctrl+P or Cmd+P.

The browser's print screen keeps things simple. If you need your printer's own settings (a specific tray, a paper type), press Ctrl+Shift+P in Chrome on Windows to open the system print dialog instead.

In Google Drive, open the PDF's preview and use the printer icon at the top. It opens the same browser print screen.

How to print a PDF from an iPhone, iPad or Android phone

iPhone or iPad:

Open the PDF in Files, Mail or Safari.
Tap the Share button (the square with an arrow pointing up).
Scroll down and tap Print.
Choose your printer, set the copies and pages, and tap Print.

Your printer needs to support AirPrint, and it has to be on the same Wi-Fi network as your phone.

Android:

Open the PDF in the Files app or Google Drive.
Tap the three-dot menu and choose Print (in some apps it's under Share).
Pick your printer from the list at the top, then tap the print button.

Same rule as the iPhone: the printer has to be on the same Wi-Fi network as your phone.

Print settings worth knowing

The names change a little from app to app, but these show up almost everywhere.

Only some pages. Change Pages from All to a range. Chrome, Edge and Acrobat Reader take a list like 1-3, 7. Preview on a Mac asks for a first and last page.

Double-sided. Look for Two-Sided or Print on both sides. If it isn't there, your printer may still do it: check the printer's own properties or preferences. If the printer can't flip the paper, the option won't appear at all.

Several pages on one sheet. The pages per sheet setting fits 2, 4 or more pages onto one piece of paper. Handy for slides and handouts.

Edges getting cut off. Turn on fit to page (or shrink to fit), or set the scale under 100%. This happens when the PDF's page size doesn't match your paper, like a document made for A4 printed on US Letter.

Grayscale. Switch Color to black and white to save color ink on drafts.

Comments and form fields. In Acrobat Reader, the Comments & Forms setting decides whether sticky notes, markup and filled-in form fields end up on paper.

Posters and booklets. Acrobat Reader can split one big page across several sheets (Poster) or arrange pages so they fold into a booklet (Booklet). Both are under its page sizing options.

Print several PDFs at once

Opening ten PDFs and printing them one by one gets old. It's quicker to make them one file.

Drop them on our Merge PDF tool (up to 20 at a time), drag the thumbnails into the order you want, and merge. Download the merged PDF (that part takes a free account) and print it once, in one go, in the right order.

When a PDF won't print

If everything else prints fine but this PDF won't, it's usually one of these.

It's restricted or password-protected. Whoever made the PDF can block printing, or require a password to open it. If the file is yours, or you have the password, our Unlock PDF tool gives you a copy without the restriction that prints normally. If it isn't your file, ask the person who sent it for a version you can print.

It's damaged. A PDF that prints blank pages, garbled text or only part of the document may be broken. First try a different viewer: if it fails in Acrobat Reader, try your browser, or the other way around. If it's still wrong, run it through Repair PDF, which tries to fix the file and recovers what it can.

It asks you to save a file. A save-as-PDF printer (like Microsoft Print to PDF) is selected. Switch to your actual printer.

It's huge, and the printer stalls. Big, image-heavy PDFs can choke a printer. Print it in chunks with a page range, or make it smaller first with our Compress PDF tool.

Only PDFs fail. Update your PDF app and your printer's driver, then try again. Printing from the browser is a good test, since it skips your PDF app entirely.

Print a PDF without installing anything

On a computer that isn't yours, or a phone without a PDF app, drop the file on our PDF Reader. It opens in your browser with nothing to install, on a computer or a phone. Click the printer button at the top (or press Ctrl+P or Cmd+P). Printing from it takes a free PrintFriendly account, and you can create one right there if you don't have one.

And if what you really wanted was to turn a web page into a PDF, paste its address into the box on our home page and press Go. You can save the page as a PDF from there.