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Can Only Print 1 Copy at a Time from Specific Excel Document

missmacinthorpe

missmacinthorpe

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 1, 2021
31
12
NW Alabama
I have a certain Excel file (an expense form I have to fill out from time to time) that only prints 1 copy at a time, no matter how many copies I specify in the print dialog window. Other Excel and Word documents print as expected. I have tried this document on 2 different Macs (both updated yesterday to macOS 13.2.1) and the printer software (Epson) is up to date also. I know in the past I have been able to print multiple copies of this file, so I am puzzled by this. Any help appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 
That is truly bizarre, and I've never heard of that issue before. Perhaps try duplicating the file in Finder (left click on it to select it, then press command-d), then opening that duplicated copy and see if it will allow you to print multiple copies. If not, then try creating a new blank Excel file and copy the sheet to that new workbook. Then see if that workbook will let you print multiple copies. If neither of those work, I'd suggest contacting Microsoft and/or Epson.
 
missmacinthorpe said:
I tried both of your suggestions, and neither of them worked. Thanks anyway.
Click to expand...

It was a 12 year old online post, but I saw someone mention that UN-checking "Collate pages" when printing fixed this issue for them.

Check out these two posts and see if something suggested here works:



If you're able to, you might want to upload the file in question to Google Drive or other cloud storage and share it via a link so we can download it and see if we're able to print multiple copies.
 
missmacinthorpe said:
Unchecking "Collate Pages" did not help. I just uploaded the file: Expense Form.xls
Click to expand...

Thanks. I can confirm that I simply opened the file, went to print 2 copies and only 1 copy printed. But here's the thing. It just dawned on me that I don't really ever print much from Excel (and if I did, I probably wouldn't be printing multiple copies). So I opened one of my own spreadsheets and found out that it also fails to print more than 1 copy at a time. So this seems to be a default behavior for Excel spreadsheets. I have no idea why, though.

I suggest printing to PDF first and then you should be able to print as many copies of that PDF as you want.

For anyone else trying to download the file, simply clicking the link does not work. Right-click it, then select "Copy Link Address" and then paste it into the address bar of a new tab.
 
usagora said:
For anyone else trying to download the file, simply clicking the link does not work. Right-click it, then select "Copy Link Address" and then paste it into the address bar of a new tab.
Click to expand...
Clicking on the link works for me in Safari (macOS Ventura 13.2.1). What browser are you using?
 
usagora said:
Chrome. When I click it, a new tab opens for a split second and then disappears. No file is downloaded or opened.
Click to expand...
I see. I tried it in Chrome just now (had the same problem as you) and also Firefox (balked at downloading a file from an insecure server). I'm sorry people are having problems downloading my file.
 
missmacinthorpe said:
I see. I tried it in Chrome just now (had the same problem as you) and also Firefox (balked at downloading a file from an insecure server). I'm sorry people are having problems downloading my file.
Click to expand...

Well, like I said, copying/pasting the link worked for me. Did you see my full post about my results (post 8)? I edited it after posting to add new info, but you may have read it before my edit. Basically, the issue you're having is happening for all Excel spreadsheets for me. I just don't normally print from Excel, so I never noticed it before.
 
usagora said:
Did you see my full post about my results (post 8)? I edited it after posting to add new info, but you may have read it before my edit.
Click to expand...
Yes, I read it before you edited it. I eventually saw the new info you posted, though. I agree that printing to PDF first should work.
 
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missmacinthorpe said:
Yes, I read it before you edited it. I eventually saw the new info you posted, though. I agree that printing to PDF first should work.
Click to expand...

Either that or of course if you have a copier, you could also make copies from the initial printout that way.
 
No answer, just a data point:

Not an Excel user, but was able to print two copies of the spreadsheet via Numbers and LibreOffice to a Brother laser printer (a cheap-o one at that, HL-L2350DW). On latest Ventura and using AirPrint.

Quick web search seems to point to the printer model and on-board memory (per MS support), however, the laser I printed to only has 64MB of memory vs HPs having the problem with 2x+ more memory.

Maybe export from Excel as a Postscript file (File > Save As) and see how big a file you get. LibreOffice generated a 785KB file, Numbers 907KB.
 
I have this problem too, with every Excel file. Others have reported online that they were able to mess with the "Which pages do you want to print" options in the Excel print dialog and get multiple copies, that doesn't work for me. I believe it's an Excel problem.... when I Pause my printer and look at the job in the queue, the Excel job says "Waiting.. 5 pages, 1 copy" regardless of how many copies I asked for. But doing the same thing from any other app it shows "X pages, 2 copies".
 
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