Printing double-sided halves your paper use and makes long documents easier to handle, staple and post. Most modern printers can do it automatically. If yours cannot, you can still print both sides manually with a little care. Here is how on each platform, and how to fix the most common mistake: back pages that come out upside down.
Check whether your printer supports duplex
Automatic double-sided printing is called duplex. Look in the printer's specifications or settings for "duplex", "two-sided" or "auto 2-sided". If it is there, the computer can tell the printer to flip the paper for you. If not, use the manual method further down.
On Windows
- Open the PDF and press Ctrl+P.
- Choose your printer and click Printer Properties or Preferences.
- Find Print on both sides, Duplex or 2-sided.
- Choose Flip on long edge for normal portrait documents.
In Edge's built-in PDF viewer, the print dialog often shows a Print on both sides option directly. Adobe Reader and other viewers usually have a Print on both sides of paper checkbox in their own print dialog.
On Mac
- Open the PDF in Preview and press Cmd+P.
- Click Show Details if the dialog is collapsed.
- Set Two-Sided to On (or Long-Edge binding).
If the option is missing, the printer driver may not report duplex support. Updating the printer software from the manufacturer usually fixes it.
On iPhone and iPad
Open the PDF, tap Share, then Print. If your AirPrint printer supports duplex, a Double-sided switch appears. Turn it on.
On Android
Open the PDF, choose Print, select the printer, then tap the small arrow to expand options. Set Two-sided to Long edge. See printing a PDF from Android for the full steps.
Long edge or short edge?
- Long edge is for portrait documents, bound like a book. This is what you want most of the time.
- Short edge is for landscape documents, flipped like a notepad.
Choosing the wrong one is why back pages come out upside down.
Manual double-sided printing
If your printer cannot duplex:
- Print odd pages only (the print dialog usually has an "Odd pages" option, or type the page range).
- Take the stack out without reordering it.
- Put it back in the tray. Which way it goes depends on your printer, so test with two sheets first: mark the top of a page with a pen and see how it feeds.
- Print even pages only. Some printers need reverse order for this pass.
If your document has an odd number of pages, add a blank page at the end first so the last sheet pairs correctly. You can insert pages into a PDF in a browser editor such as Docento.app, which works on the file locally without uploading it.
Make sections start on the right-hand page
For booklets and reports, chapters often look better starting on a right-hand (odd) page. Insert blank pages where needed before printing. For folded booklets, see PDF imposition explained.
Takeaway
Turn on duplex in the print dialog and choose long edge for portrait documents. Without a duplex printer, print odd pages, flip the stack after a two-sheet test, then print even pages. If printing comes out blank or garbled instead, see PDF printing blank fixes.
