How to Add Background and Print in Word Windows and Mac?

Microsoft Word by default opens a blank new document with white background color. However, you can easily add beautiful background to your document with picture or color. The problem comes when you want to print the document. Because Word will print the document with white background by default. In this article, we will explain how to add background color or image to your document and print the document with the background color or image. This works for print to PDF also to convert your document to PDF with background.

Default Print Behavior in Word

Below is a sample Word document page with colorful background.

Press “Control + P” in Windows or “Command + P” in macOS to open the print preview. As you can see, Word automatically removes the background color and shows with white background.

Adding Background Color or Image in Word

If you do not know how to add background color or image, here are the steps. Adding background color is the same process in Word Windows and Mac versions.

• Open you document and go to “Design” tab.
• Click on the “Page Color” icon available under “Page Background” group.
• Select the color and Word will immediately apply the color as a background for your document.
• If you want to remove the color, simply select “No Color” option.

For setting background image, go to “Design” tab and click “Watermark” icon. On Mac, this will open a “Insert Watermark” pop-up. Select “Picture” option and click on “Select Picture” button to insert a picture from your Mac. On Windows version, after clicking “Watermark”, select “Custom Watermark” option to open “Printed Watermark” dialog box. Now select “Picture watermark” and insert a picture from your computer or OneDrive or using Bing search.

The inserted watermark will act as a page background for your document. Anytime, you can select “No watermark” option to remove the background image from your document. Learn more about adding and editing watermark in Word.

Print Word Document with Background in Windows

Follow the below instructions in Word for Windows.

• Open Word document and go to “File > Options” menu.
• This will open “Word Options” dialog and go to “Display” section.
• Enable “Print background colors and images” option under “Printing options” section.
• Click “OK” to apply the changed and close the dialog box.

Now, press “Control + P” and check the print preview. It should the document with its background color or image.  

Print Word Document with Background in Mac

Follow the below instructions if you are using Word for Mac.

• Open your document and press “Command + Comma” shortcut keys. Alternatively, go to “Word > Preferences…” menu.

• In “Word Preferences” pop-up, select “Print” option available under “Output and Sharing” section.

• Check “Print background colors and images” option available under “Print Options” section.

Close the preferences pop-up and press “Command + P” to preview your document. Now, you should see the print preview with the document’s background color or image.