How to Print Multiple Slides on One Page in PowerPoint

A 30-slide lecture deck printed one slide per sheet uses 30 pieces of paper; printed six to a page it uses five. To put several slides on one page in PowerPoint, go to File > Print, open the layout box under Settings (it normally says Full Page Slides), pick a layout under Handouts, then click Print. This applies to PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 and PowerPoint 2016 through 2024; Mac and web steps follow.

Fewer slides also means fewer pages, so it can help to remove unwanted slides from the deck before you print the handouts.

Print several slides per page in PowerPoint for Windows

In PowerPoint, a page with several slide thumbnails on it is called a handout. You do not need to change the slides themselves: handouts are purely a print setting.

Wide margins around each slide often mean the deck is still Widescreen, so you may want to set a paper slide size in PowerPoint before printing.

1. Open the presentation and choose File > Print (or press Ctrl+P). The Print screen opens with settings on the left and a preview on the right.
2. Under Printer, choose the printer you want to use. Pick it first, because some later options depend on what the printer supports.
3. Under Settings, click the second box, which shows Full Page Slides by default. Microsoft calls this the Print Layout menu.
4. In the Handouts section of that menu, click the layout you want, such as 4 or 6 slides per page. The thumbnail icons show how slides will be arranged.
5. Check the preview on the right. Use the arrows below it to page through the handout and make sure the text is still readable at that size.
6. Set the number of copies at the top, then click Print.

Which handout layout to pick

The Handouts section offers layouts from one to nine slides per page. Layouts with four, six or nine slides come in horizontal and vertical versions, which control whether slides are numbered across rows first or down columns first. Here is how the common choices compare for a 30-slide deck printed on one side of the paper:

Layout	Sheets for 30 slides	Best for
1 slide	30	Large single-slide handouts with a border and room around the slide
2 slides	15	Slides with charts or small text that must stay legible
3 slides	10	Audiences who want to take notes: this layout adds ruled lines beside each slide
4 slides	8	A good balance of paper saving and readability for most decks
6 slides	5	Study sheets and reference copies with large slide titles
9 slides	4	Overview pages, proofreading slide order, or very simple slides

A student reviewing for an exam might print six per page for a compact study pack, while a presenter giving out notes at a workshop might use three per page so attendees have space to write. If the deck has dense tables or 12-point text, stay at four or fewer; at nine per page each slide prints only a couple of inches wide on letter or A4 paper, so small text becomes hard to read.

Options that change how the handout prints

Several settings on the same Print screen affect the result. Most sit in the boxes below the layout menu; a few appear at the bottom of the layout menu itself.

• Slide numbers: for Microsoft 365 subscribers on Windows, slide numbers print below each slide on handouts by default. To turn them off, open the layout menu and clear Print slide numbers on handouts.
• Color: choose Color, Grayscale or Pure Black and White. Check the preview after switching, because dark backgrounds and colored charts can print very differently.
• Collated or Uncollated: with several copies, Collated prints each full set in order, which is what you want for handing out packs.
• One-sided or two-sided, and stapling: these appear only if your printer supports them. Printing on both sides halves the paper again, so the six-per-page example above drops to three sheets.
• Frame and scaling options: the bottom of the layout menu can also include choices such as framing each slide with a thin border and scaling slides to fit the paper. Names and availability vary by version, so check the menu on your copy.

Print only part of the deck

You do not have to print every slide as a handout. Under Settings, open the first box (it usually says Print All Slides) and choose Custom Range, then type the slide numbers in the Slides box. Separate single slides with commas and ranges with a hyphen, for example 1,3,5-12. If the deck has hidden slides, they are skipped unless you turn on Print Hidden Slides in the same menu, which is handy when backup slides belong in the printed pack but not in the live presentation.

PowerPoint for Mac

The Mac version uses the macOS print dialog rather than a full Print screen, so the handout setting sits in a different place.

1. Choose File > Print (or press Command+P).
2. If you see only a few options, click Show Details to expand the dialog.
3. In the PowerPoint section of the dialog, open the Layout menu and choose one of the Handout options, such as 4 or 6 slides per page.
4. Slide numbers are included by default. Clear Print slide numbers on handouts if you do not want them.
5. Check the preview, then click Print.

PowerPoint for the web

The browser version is much more limited. Under File > Print, it can print a handout page with three slide thumbnails and ruled lines for notes, then hands the job to your browser, which shows its print panel or opens a PDF to print, depending on the browser. You cannot pick four, six or nine slides per page there, and Microsoft recommends using desktop PowerPoint for more advanced layouts. Content from some add-ins may not print from the web either. For the full web walk-through, see printing handouts in PowerPoint for the web, and if you are presenting from the browser too, there is a separate walk-through on playing a presentation in PowerPoint for the web.

Save the handout as a PDF

A PDF handout is easy to email or upload to a class page, and it lets you check the layout before using any paper. On Windows, open File > Print, choose your handout layout, then pick a PDF printer such as Microsoft Print to PDF in the Printer list and click Print; Windows asks where to save the file. More detail on that printer is in printing to PDF on Windows. On a Mac, choose the handout layout in the Print dialog, then use the PDF menu at the bottom of the dialog and choose to save as PDF.

Customize the handout page

To change what surrounds the slides, such as adding a date, a page number or your organization’s name in the header, use the Handout Master.

1. Choose View > Handout Master.
2. In the Page Setup group, use Slides Per Page to preview the layout you plan to print and Handout Orientation to switch between Portrait and Landscape.
3. In the Placeholders group, turn Header, Footer, Date and Page Number on or off, then click in a placeholder on the page to type text.
4. Click Close Master View and print as usual.

Changes in the Handout Master affect only printed handouts, not the slides in the presentation.

Get speaker notes on the printout

Standard handouts print slide content only; speaker notes are left off. If you need the notes, you have two options (the Outline layout in the same menu prints only the slide text, without images):

• Notes Pages: in the Print Layout menu, choose Notes Pages. This prints one slide per page with its notes below, so it uses more paper than a handout. The details are covered in printing PowerPoint with notes.
• Handouts in Word: desktop PowerPoint for Windows can send the slides to Word: choose File > Export > Create Handouts, click Create Handouts, then pick a page layout in the Send to Microsoft Word box. Layouts that include notes put several slides and their notes on each page, and you can edit the document in Word before printing. Microsoft explains the options on its page about editing or printing PowerPoint handouts in Word.

Use the printer’s pages per sheet setting instead

Many printer drivers have their own pages per sheet (or multiple pages) option in the printer properties. You can combine it with Full Page Slides to fit slides on a sheet, but the result depends on the printer driver, so check the preview or a test page. Use it only if the Handouts layouts are not available. The same idea works in Word, as shown in printing two pages on one sheet in Word.

If an option is missing or the printout looks wrong

• The Print button or some settings are grayed out: no printer may be installed or selected, or the selected printer is offline. Choose a working printer (or a PDF printer) and the settings should return.
• Two-sided or stapling options are missing: those appear only when the printer driver reports that it supports them.
• Text is too small: drop to a layout with fewer slides, or switch the handout to landscape in the Handout Master.
• Slides print in the wrong order on the page: switch between the horizontal and vertical version of the layout.
• The preview still shows one slide per page: reopen the Print Layout menu and confirm a layout under Handouts is selected, not Full Page Slides or Notes Pages.

Printing questions

Can I print notes alongside six or nine slides on a page?

Not with PowerPoint’s own handouts, which never include speaker notes. Exporting handouts to Word with a layout that includes notes is the closest built-in option.

Do hidden slides appear on handouts?

Only if Print Hidden Slides is turned on in the first Settings box. Otherwise they are left out and the remaining slides close up the gaps.

Why is the three-slide layout the only one with lines?

The three-slide handout is designed for note-taking, so PowerPoint fills the space beside each slide with ruled lines. The other layouts use that space for more slides.

Will the handout layout change how the slides look on screen?

No. Handout layouts and the Handout Master affect printing only; the slide show and the slides in Normal view are unchanged.

Before printing a large batch, print or save one page as a PDF and check it at arm’s length. Microsoft’s reference page on printing handouts, notes or slides lists every print setting, and its page on creating or changing a handout covers the Handout Master in more depth.