How to Print Double-Sided on a Mac

Saving Paper and Staying Organised

If you regularly print long reports, university essays, or multi-page contracts, printing on both sides of the paper is a necessity. Not only does it instantly cut your paper consumption in half—saving you money and reducing environmental waste—but it also makes large documents significantly easier to read, staple, and carry in a folder.

This process is officially known as “duplex printing.” While the macOS operating system is generally celebrated for its user-friendly interface, finding the specific checkbox to enable two-sided printing can sometimes be surprisingly difficult. This is because Apple allows individual printer manufacturers (such as HP, Brother, and Epson) to design their own custom print menus, meaning the option is not always located in the same place for every user.

However, provided your printer hardware actually supports automatic duplexing (the physical ability to suck the paper back in and flip it over), you can usually find the setting hidden within the standard Mac print dialogue box.

How to Print Double-Sided from Any Mac App

These instructions apply to almost all standard macOS applications, including Safari, Pages, Preview (for PDFs), and Microsoft Word.

1. Open the document, webpage, or image you wish to print.
2. Look at the menu bar at the top of the screen and click on File.
3. Select Print… from the drop-down menu (or simply press the keyboard shortcut Command + P).
4. The main Print dialogue box will appear. Take a close look at this window. If it looks very small and lacks detail, look for a button at the bottom labelled Show Details and click it to expand the window.
5. Look for a checkbox explicitly labelled Two-Sided (this is usually located near the “Copies” or “Pages” selection boxes).
   • If you see the checkbox, simply click it so a blue tick appears, and then click the blue Print button. You are finished.
   • If you do not see a simple checkbox, proceed to the next step.
6. Look for a drop-down menu situated near the middle of the expanded window. It will likely say the name of the app you are currently using (e.g., “Preview” or “Safari”) or perhaps “Layout.”
7. Click this drop-down menu and select Layout.
8. In the Layout options panel that appears below, locate the setting labelled Two-Sided.
9. Click the drop-down menu next to “Two-Sided” and select Long-Edge binding. (Note: “Long-Edge binding” means the pages will flip like a standard book. “Short-Edge binding” means the pages will flip over the top, like a stenographer’s notepad).
10. Click the blue Print button.

What If the Option Is Missing or Greyed Out?

If you have followed the steps above and cannot find a “Two-Sided” checkbox, or if the option is visible but greyed out so you cannot click it, there are two possible reasons:

1. Your Printer Does Not Support Automatic Duplexing
Many budget home printers simply do not possess the internal mechanics required to automatically flip a piece of paper. If this is the case, you cannot enable the feature in software. You will need to print all the odd pages first (1, 3, 5), manually take the printed stack, flip it over, feed it back into the paper tray, and then instruct the Mac to print the even pages (2, 4, 6).

2. macOS Did Not Install the Correct Drivers
If you know for an absolute fact that your expensive office printer supports double-sided printing, but your Mac refuses to allow it, the computer is likely using a generic “fallback” driver instead of the manufacturer’s specific software.

1. Click the Apple Logo and select System Settings.
2. Scroll down the left sidebar and click on Printers & Scanners.
3. Click on your printer in the list, then click the Remove Printer button (or the minus “-” symbol) to delete it.
4. Ensure your printer is turned on and connected to the same Wi-Fi network as your Mac.
5. Click the Add Printer, Scanner, or Fax button.
6. Select your printer from the list that appears.
7. Before clicking Add, look at the Use: drop-down menu at the bottom. Do not select “Generic PostScript Printer.” Ensure it says “Secure AirPrint” or the specific name of your printer model.
8. Click Add.

Once the printer is reinstalled correctly, the Two-Sided option should appear in your print dialogue box.