Duplex Printing

[LesLV]

I cannot printer an excel document on two sides. It will print a word document.

[Hawks_Eye · Accepted solution]

Hi @LesLV 

Welcome to the HP Support Community! We're here to help you get back up and running.

If your HP OfficeJet 5258 All-in-One Printer can print Word documents on both sides but struggles with Excel files, it might be due to specific settings or configurations. 

Here are steps to troubleshoot and enable two-sided printing for Excel documents:

 

Enabling Two-Sided Printing for Excel Documents

Check Printer Settings in Excel:

• Open your Excel document and go to File > Print.
• In the print settings, look for an option such as Print on Both Sides, Two-Sided, or Duplex Printing.
• Make sure this option is selected if available. If you don’t see it, you may need to adjust settings in your printer’s properties.

Access Printer Properties:

• In the print dialog, go to Printer Properties or Preferences.
• Ensure the duplex printing option is enabled here as well. You may find it under the layout or finishing tab.

Update Printer Drivers:

• Visit the HP support page to download and install the most recent printer drivers compatible with Windows 11. Keeping drivers up-to-date ensures better compatibility with Excel’s printing requirements.

Excel Page Setup:

• Go to Page Layout > Page Setup in Excel.
• Under the Sheet tab, ensure the Over, Then Down or Down, Then Over is selected for Page Order. This can influence how Excel documents are printed in duplex mode.

Check Document Formatting:

• Verify if the Excel document’s layout or cell sizes are compatible with duplex printing. Complex layouts may affect printing ability.

Test Different Excel Documents:

• Try printing a different Excel file to check if the issue is document-specific. Sometimes particular formats or settings in an Excel file can hinder duplex printing.

 

Additional Recommendations:

• Restart Printer and PC: This is a simple fix that can resolve connectivity issues or settings that may not be applying correctly.
• Print as PDF: Convert your Excel document to PDF and try printing from the PDF viewer, which may handle duplex settings differently.

Let me know what you observe after trying these steps. You're clearly doing everything right—just a few more tweaks and we’ll get that spreadsheet printing properly.

If my response helped, please mark it as an Accepted Solution! ✅ It helps others and spreads support. 💙 Also, tapping "Yes" on "Was this reply helpful?" makes a big difference! Thanks! 😊

Take care, and have an amazing day!

Regards, 

Hawks_Eye

[LesLV]

Thanks for your suggestions. As it turns out, I neglected to mention that I was trying to do two sided printing of a single page. The eventual solution was really quite simple. I put a page break at the bottom of the page and copied and pasted the page onto the 2nd page. The printer worked as expected. Moral of the story: at least two pages are necessary for duplex printing to work.

I will saved your response to use a reference for other duplex issues that may arise.

[Hawks_Eye]

@LesLV 

That’s a great catch—thanks for looping back with what worked. It's an easy detail to miss, especially when you're working with what looks like a full page. Adding the page break and duplicating it to create a second sheet was a clever workaround, and it absolutely makes sense given how duplex printing logic works.

Glad to hear it’s printing smoothly now. 

If anything else crops up—duplex quirks, driver settings, or something more obscure—I’m here to help sort it out.

Regards,

Hawks_Eye