How do I print my email with the latest Windows Live Hotmail?

Helping people with computers. one answer at a time.

Windows Live Hotmail changed the way they display messages, and in doing so apparently changed the steps you need to take to print a message.

Since Hotmail's recent change of format, we are unable to print emails from our inboxs. The right hand side of the page is cut off and only the first page prints.

I had a suspicion that I knew what Hotmail had done, and sure enough, I went to check and said to myself "they didn't!"

The answer is not to use the print button, but to use the print button instead.

Now in case that's not clear , let me explain.

One change that this latest version of Windows Live Hotmail apparently made is that they don't actually display an entire message as a single browser page. Rather, they've created a smaller window within the page in which they display only a portion of the message. The window has a scroll bar so you can move around within the message to read it. You can tell that it's not the browser's own scroll bar, because it doesn't take up the entire right hand side, and when you scroll the Hotmail header and UI don't scroll off the top.

When you click your browser's print button , it prints what the browser sees as the displayed page. In the past this was likely your entire message. In the current version it's all the Hotmail UI to the left and top of your message, and the window that's displaying only a portion of your message.

Not at all what you intended.

In fact, it looks to me that they rendered the browser's print button useless for printing Hotmail.

If you look closely at the Hotmail UI on the page, you'll see another print button:

If you click on this button to print your message, then Hotmail will open your message in a new window, with the entire message displayed. The good news is that the Hotmail headers, advertisements and other stuff is not included; it's just the message, and all of the message that you can then print.

It is an extra step, and it's not immediately obvious, but it does produce a reasonable result.

It's just unfortunate that the actual browser print button that so many relied upon is no longer the right thing to use to print.

If you still have a problem with the right hand portion of the message being cut off, I'll direct you to this article: Why is only the left hand part of my page printed?

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How do I print just portions of an email or web page? Printing a portion of document can be tricky. For email and web pages, printing a portion boils down to one of two approaches, depending on how close to the original you want things to look.

Why is only the left hand part of my page printed? When printing some programs will automatically scale what you see to fit your printer's width. If not, you might only get a portion of what you expect.

November 25, 2008 10:50 AM

I don't go to the Hotmail site at all. I use Thunderbird and an add-on called Webmail

with the Hotmail component (Also Yahoo, as well, incidentally) and this actually downloads the mail (both my .co.uk and .live.com accounts), just like normal POP3, quite transparently and they print as normal.

November 25, 2008 4:13 PM

This reply has to do with printing. as a whole. I always look for the 'link' within a page to see/get the print version. I print out many things.. Most are for references and others are printed just so I can get off this machine for a little while. lol

Good point Leo.. and thanks

November 25, 2008 7:55 PM

Bad, unintuitive UI design by Microsoft. I see new users struggle with the new interface regularly. Instead of text only commands, they should put them back on "button" backgrounds to make them more obvious.

November 30, 2008 2:55 AM

my issue is i normally print a selection of text..so this means extra steps, i have to open print page..Then cancel print dialogue box (as selection is not given as option)..Then highlight selection and print. Add to this I normally go preference >print greyscale. Previously this setting was remembered..now I have to go in and reselect each and every time I print, and that is often several emails in sucession

December 2, 2008 5:57 AM

Before Live Hotmail, I was able to highlight the portion of an email or web page that I wanted and print off the selected area via File > Print > Selection etc.

This route now produces a nil result.

By using the Print Icon, I obtain the whole message/page in a new window but the Selection option is greyed out.

It is highly irritating to have unnecessary problems thrust upon an unsuspecting public - please correct the problem asap Hotmail.

December 13, 2008 6:01 AM

I was having problems printing with the new format on Hotmail til someone sent me this site. I was very happy to find the solution to my problems but still can't seem to print pictures that are sent to me?

February 6, 2009 1:35 PM

I am still having a problem with printing even using the hotmail print button. all I get is the header and footer but no other print.

February 15, 2009 11:43 PM

Thank you. so simple, so hard to see even when you are looking for it. Jjanice could try right clicking on the picture and selecting "save image". Much easier to do stuff with photos outside of hotmail.

March 30, 2009 12:30 PM

i want to know the way in which i can print the whole page of the email in hotmail account ( the displayed whole screen) of the account just as in the yahoomail account

April 8, 2009 3:15 PM

When I try to use Hotmail's own print button I find it is blocked by my pop up blocker. Switching off the blocker no longer works. It still acts as if it is switched on. What next?

April 30, 2009 5:48 PM

I tried to print an itinerary for a flight and both times it would freeze my computer I will see if any comments will help.this is a new problem for me.

May 2, 2009 9:56 PM

I have read all these comments and still don't have a solution.

When I use either print button, even with the print preview, I get the all the frames printed over each other. The only way I could get the actual email frame to print was to select the area, reduce the area to 75%, and then print the selection.

There has to be an easier way.

May 26, 2009 8:51 PM

I was able to print pictures from hot mail. I'm working with an illustrator..this is very important for my work. what happened? I thought it was my printer. did something change. this is sooo not good. please help. thank you.

June 15, 2009 12:16 PM

I've been having a printing problem in hotmail since April - right side cut off even in "shrink to print/ bottom cut off. ried to download to flashdrive to print from there. Hotmail won't allow saving a WEB Page. SO I CALLED THE F.T.C. to complain because I pay hotmail $21 a year for storage. If I cannot print, this is a form of fraud, as they are taking my money & I have an account. They gave me a docket # to prefer to their attorneys. They want to research HOW MANY OF YOU ARE ALSO HAVING THIS PROBLEM. Everyone should call the F.T.C. toll free in Wash. D.C. to compalin! Then maybe Microsoft will fix this.Meanwhile I still need to do something. Haven't been able to print second pages of important bills.

June 21, 2009 10:27 PM

Advice didn't work Hot Mail print Icon useless.

It prints the whole screen still.

July 29, 2009 2:02 PM

In this article it shows the following

New, Delete, Junk, Mark as, Move to, a printer picture, an up arrow, a down arrow and finally POP.

I have nothing past the Move to item.

How do I get the rest of the items that are on your picture so that I can print a proper page .

July 30, 2009 8:43 PM

why is it when i print email I get a lisitng of All my directories printing out on the left - this can take several pages of print wiht only this down the left side.

August 5, 2009 6:25 AM

In your drawing on page2 of this article it shows

New, Delete, Junk, Mark as, Move to, Picture of printer, up arrow, down arrow, POP.

On my screen there is nothing after " Move to "

How do I fix this

August 9, 2009 7:07 AM

I forward it to G mail then print it

August 24, 2009 8:02 AM

Icannot get any emails up or delite them for the past four weeks, can you help me please I have eighteen messages on my sreen

September 14, 2009 8:26 AM

Microsoft have yet again fixed something that wasn't broken and the fix doesn't work! No change there then.

December 29, 2009 2:08 AM

Use the print icon on the hotmail page to the right of New/Delete/Junk/Mark as/Move to.

Opens in a new window and prints entire email.

January 12, 2010 11:21 AM

I have Windows Live Mail, not HotMail,and I do not see a MOVE TO button and no option I can find offers a print. What now?

January 17, 2010 1:28 PM

When the trying to use hotmail print, a DEP error occurs and I am unable to print. I've tried the suggestions as noted with the DEP error, but doesn't work. Any suggestions?

February 19, 2010 2:59 PM

To print a page from Microsoft Windows Live, simply RIGHT CLICK the page you want to print, and you should see a "print" item.

February 22, 2010 7:25 AM

I do not have the newest line at the top, so no print button after new/delete/junk/markas/move to/the POP

March 2, 2010 7:11 PM

I have a completely different problem my emails only print in blue unless I cut and paste them to office. Can anyone help. Under printer properties the only coor there is black. It's my hotmail message body not the header or footer of the page Help

March 18, 2010 9:03 PM

THANKS Eldon you saved my sanity.

April 18, 2010 5:57 AM

In response to Becky, if you have a Hewlett Packard printer go to the following link and use the HP Diagnostic Utility. A friend of mine had the same problem with her HP printer and this solved her problem.

May 15, 2010 7:57 AM

OMG Leo. Do you have any idea how many times I've tried to print from my hotmail. All I had to do was be more aware of my environment! Geesshh! Thank you so much!!

May 28, 2010 10:26 PM

Thanks for that info was pulling my hair out but now its all good i can print again.

June 13, 2010 1:58 AM

I almost feel stupid, but I guess it is also an usability problem. The print icon is right there but I couldn't see it.

June 28, 2010 5:02 PM

I have been using the icon in the hotmail for printing for a long time but now mine doesn't work anymore. I no longer get the new window with my email to be printed and instead have to print from the browser and have all the ads. This just started happening about 3 weeks ago and was intermittant and now nothing. I have 2 HP printers and they work on everything else. To say I am frustrated would be an understatement.

August 2, 2010 10:56 PM

Discovered this a few days ago. What I want to know now tho, is how to print the email with details of time the email was sent. Only the date appears without the time email sent. Time matters! Printed out using both "print buttons" no time :( Any idea on how to print with header information? TIA

August 3, 2010 12:25 PM

Kiwi - You can set that up with your printer options. It's not individual page related.

August 5, 2010 11:34 AM

My problem is that when I print using the steps described in the article, my printer prints one page with only the message header (to/from/date) on it, then prints a second page with the message on it. This happens even if I select "Full View" before printing --but it doesn't happen every time I print a message! It's driving me crazy.

August 8, 2010 2:11 PM

Danielle on August 3rd, 2010 answered Kiwi's question on "how to also print time stamp" saying it is set up in Printer Options. I don't see how. I can't print date and time with the new Hotmail, important for record keeping. I can see them with "Show details" but not print them. Please help. Thanks.

August 10, 2010 1:31 AM

Start using another internet mail. Hotmail is dicy and dangerous now that it is changed for anybody who needs to keep record of mails send and received. why there is always people thinking they are more clever and change something that works nobody knows. Only they know how to mess things up. rather use Yahoo

August 10, 2010 7:15 AM

Lawrence (and Kiwi) - I remember at one time setting this up via my printer. However, I could not locate it with my current one. I did find a way to do this in Firefox. (I don't use IE)

When you go to that section you will see at the bottom options to change the information. The top 3 are the header for locations in the header- left, middle, right. The bottom 3 are for locations in the footer- left, middle, right.

In Chrome, I believe they are automatic. (The issue seems to be options to remove them!)

Ok, checked IE and it's the same type of process only when you go to Page Setup then it is all right there in front of you. (I went to Page Set up in IE by clicking on a down arrow next to a printer icon in a little bar at the top left. Not sure if this is standard set up or what.) YMMV

August 13, 2010 9:30 AM

I cannot print from my hotmail account. It either only prints the header or does not print the entire page. I have used the printer button on the top of the header and i have gone into file and printed that way.

Any ideas? I need these emails asap

September 11, 2010 6:31 AM

The article does not address/solve the issue of printing only the message header(subject/from/sent date/to)on one page and text on subsequent pages. I have looked for settings to modify under "options" to no avail. This seems to be the same issue Scotti Cohn referenced in his August 5 post. Please respond with solution! Thanks in advance.

September 12, 2010 3:03 PM

i gave a thumbs down because your answer was misleading. You describe printing an email as is received, or with a typed reply but in saved draft mode for example. Most people know this, and want to know how to print the text in their reply as is without saving to draft. And here I don't think there is a way. Or is there?

September 14, 2010 6:16 AM

Printing problem started with Windows upgade- Using print botton in Hotmail does't solve problem. I cannot print entire body of email and have lost the ablility to select portions of email to print. Why and what is the answer. Thank you

September 14, 2010 12:15 PM

I tried the button for print and the whole email shows. However, only the header page and then the first page of the body of the email page will print. Even when I tried to do a .pdf of the email, only the header page and the first page were included. The only way I could print the whole message was to copy the text and past it into a Word document. Is there any way to print the whole message from Hotmail?

September 24, 2010 5:13 PM

I have the same problem as "Marcia" -Sept. 14

"I tried the button for print and the whole email shows. However, only the header page and then the first page of the body of the email page will print. Even when I tried to do a .pdf of the email, only the header page and the first page were included. The only way I could print the whole message was to copy the text and past it into a Word document. Is there any way to print the whole message from Hotmail?"

This si very frustrating. Please help.

October 8, 2010 12:51 PM

When I was trying to find a solution to printing my emails someone sent me an email saying to go to "All Programs" then click on "Windows Live" then down to "Windows Live Mail". Go to the emails you want to print and it works just like Windows Hotmail used to. It's more time consuming but no stress like trying to get Hotmail to work. It would just print the header on first page then first page of email on second page and if more pages - nothing. Also miss the "sort" where one could bring up emails alphabetically. Don't see any improvements since the "upgrade".

October 11, 2010 12:01 PM

been struggling with this and associated problems, ie cannot use review page feature just get blank page not the e mail. Cannot get the text/message in either hotmail or webmail to print. Used to be so easy with XP and Outlook, wots going on.

October 11, 2010 1:15 PM

Check your popup blocker. I had mine on "HIGH" and when I moved it to "MEDIUM" security the print function worked perfectly.

I figured this out on my own. Microsoft couldn't figure out the problem.

October 12, 2010 12:41 PM

Hotmail with the Chrome browser is different from that shown with Internet Explorer or Firefox. The Windows Task Bar disappears and the Address Bar is non responsive say if you want to go to another URL. I've inadvertently closed Chrome many times and I am still not sure how to work the Hotmail site with Chrome.

November 5, 2010 11:16 AM

Since your change/upgrade session before last I have been unable to print off e-mails, sometimes I get page 1 of i and its a complete blank, then with page 1of 1 only a partial print, then with several pages to print usually only able to print page 1.

December 24, 2010 6:16 AM

I had no visible icon next to Move in the menu bar, but when i moved my mouse pointer there, a pointy finger appeared together with an outlined blue box. After a few seconds a small dialog box appeared saying Print (Ctrl+Shift+P). Ctrl+Shift+P opened the email in fullscreen which then printed as required. My browser is Firefox . dont know if that makes any difference

May 22, 2011 11:34 AM

I have tried everything but still can't print my emails in Hotmail. Please help. Thanks.

June 17, 2011 1:45 PM

I cannot print multipage emails from hotmail. If the document has 2 pages the preview will only show 1 page, the second is blank.

June 17, 2011 1:56 PM

You can copy and paste it into a text file and print it out. You can also edit out stuff you might not want.

June 20, 2011 5:03 PM

I tried the printer icon and when I print from Win Live Mail I am losing information on the L&R margins. Why doesn't Microsoft create a patch for Hotmail and Win. Live Mail to resolve this problem? I do a lot of printing from my email inbox. This is totally counter productive to take extra steps to save (in htm) to the desktop and then print.

August 22, 2011 4:46 AM

i have a windows live mail i can't print in color signatures mails how can i print thees mails

September 19, 2011 6:37 PM

thx leo for the e-mail printing problem, you made me realize you have to use the hotmail printer icon to print anything off their e-mail. what as+++++'s .

January 1, 2012 9:39 PM

This was VERY, VERY HELPFUL. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. Such a simple thing - but it makes all the difference in printing. I wish I woulda found your answer months ago.

January 7, 2012 8:52 PM

I tried the printer icon and that didn't work. I have a Dell desktop that prints to the wireless printer just fine. My Samsung laptop will print Word docs. just fine but when I try to print an e-mail I get about 48 pages or printer junk (set-up info etc.).

Please help if possible

February 19, 2012 10:07 PM

I feel very stupid that I didn't figure that out on my own. DUH

June 1, 2012 9:52 PM

You refer to Hotmail UI in your comments, what does that stand for?

June 2, 2012 1:50 AM

The UI is the user interface. That is the Hotmail window which appears on your browser where you can read and send emails.

July 15, 2012 8:04 AM

Send your message in 'bold' - it will then print without any problems

September 23, 2012 6:56 PM

there is no print button on hotmail

March 20, 2013 8:40 PM

Hotmail has changed to Outlook. My email printed with all the info down the left side. Came here for help saw the button shown here went back & guess what. Print button's not on the Outlook version of Hotmail. Next to "Move to" are dots like this . click on those you get a drop down menu with options- one is "print. This command doesn't have a down arrow like the others. Do we really deserve have stuff be this annoying? Glad to have " Ask Leo". Very helpful!!

March 21, 2013 2:37 PM

In-laws have same situation. Only prints header of email of their hotmail now outlook. DID NOT see any print icon or anything helpful. What is going on?

April 2, 2013 11:55 AM

jelwelyn wrote this .."Hotmail has changed to Outlook. My email printed with all the info down the left side. Came here for help saw the button shown here went back & guess what. Print button's not on the Outlook version of Hotmail. Next to "Move to" are dots like this . click on those you get a drop down menu with options- one is "print. This command doesn't have a down arrow like the others. Do we really deserve have stuff be this annoying? Glad to have " Ask Leo". Very helpful!!'"

I had this same problem and did what jewleyn says to do.

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