Believe it or not, there didn’t used to be a Google Chrome print preview feature. Initially, you had to enable a Chrome flag to use it. Now, the feature is public, though you might not know how to access it.
Also read: How to Preview Links in Google Chrome
Using Google Chrome Print Preview
When you find a page you want to print, go to the menu in the top-right corner or use the Ctrl + P shortcut.
By default, you’ll get to preview your page before it prints. This also gives you the opportunity to make a few changes if you want, such as choosing a different printer.
Since web pages often have text you may not want, such as a header or footer, you can adjust how many pages print to save on paper or just make a PDF shorter.
Disable Print Preview in Chrome
If you want to skip the Google Chrome print preview step, you can disable it but not within Chrome.
Instead, change the properties of the icon you use to access Chrome. The easiest method is to change the icon on your desktop or within your Start Menu. You can then re-add the shortcut to your taskbar if that’s where you prefer it.
Open your Start menu and search for Chrome. Select “Open file location.”
Right-click the Google Chrome shortcut and select “Properties.”
Click the Shortcut tab. Add --disable-print-preview after the quotation marks in the Target box.
Click Apply. If a pop-up appears about administrator access, confirm you want to proceed. If you don’t have administrator access on your account, you won’t be able to do this.
Now, right-click the Chrome shortcut icon again and choose where you want it. If you already have Chrome pinned to your taskbar, you’ll need to unpin the icon and re-pin it using the changed shortcut. The same is true with your Start menu.
You can pin it to your taskbar, Start menu, or send it to your Desktop. When you click this new shortcut, the Print option automatically prints using you default settings.
However, the Windows 10 print preview will appear. Getting rid of that requires Group Policy, which isn’t included in the Home version of Windows 10 and doesn’t always work. There are some more complex workarounds, but it’s easier to simply press Enter on your keyboard to quickly bypass the screen. You used to be able to use --kiosk-printing along with --disable-print-preview, but Chrome disabled this option in the latest versions.
Also read: How to Pin Extensions to the Google Chrome Toolbar
If you want to make Chrome more useful, try these extensions to automate boring browsing tasks.
