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

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Summary: 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!"

They did.

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

Now in case that's not clear Smile, 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.

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

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.

However...

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

Hotmail's Own 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?

Article C3568 - November 20, 2008

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Recent Comments
28 Comments

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?

Posted by: Lynda at January 17, 2010 1:28 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.

Posted by: Eldon at February 19, 2010 2:59 PM

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

Posted by: Joy at February 22, 2010 7:25 AM

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

Posted by: Becky at March 2, 2010 7:11 PM

THANKS Eldon you saved my sanity!!!!

Posted by: Pammy at March 18, 2010 9:03 PM

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