PowerPoint Print ‘Frame Slides’ Border: How to Toggle

When you print slides from PowerPoint, you may want a thin border around each slide to make the edges clearly visible on paper. The Frame Slides option adds this border, but the setting is not shown on the main Print screen by default. This article explains what Frame Slides does, where to find it in the print settings, and how to turn it on or off reliably in PowerPoint for Microsoft 365, PowerPoint 2021, and PowerPoint 2019.

What the Frame Slides Option Does in PowerPoint

The Frame Slides setting adds a thin black border around the edge of each slide when printed. This border matches the slide boundary and helps distinguish the slide content from the blank paper margins. The border is printed on every page that contains a slide, including handouts with multiple slides per page.

The option is available in two locations. The first is inside the Header and Footer dialog under the Slide tab. The second is a shortcut in the Print layout dropdown under Full Page Slides. Both locations control the same setting, but the Header and Footer method saves the choice with the presentation file, while the Print layout shortcut applies only to the current print session.

Why the Border May Not Appear

If you enable Frame Slides but do not see a border on the print preview or the printed page, check your printer driver settings. Some printer drivers have a minimum margin requirement that cuts off the border. Reduce the printer margins in File > Print > Printer Properties or choose a different printer driver that supports borderless printing.

How to Enable or Disable Frame Slides in the Print Dialog

The quickest way to toggle Frame Slides is from the Print screen. This method does not change the presentation file itself. It only affects the current print job.

1. Open the Print screen
   Press Ctrl+P or go to File > Print. The Print screen shows a preview of the first slide on the right side.
2. Click Full Page Slides
   Under Settings, click the dropdown that currently shows Full Page Slides or Handouts. A list of layout options appears.
3. Select Frame Slides
   Scroll to the bottom of the list. Check the box labeled Frame Slides. The print preview updates immediately to show a thin border around the slide.
4. Print or cancel
   Click the Print button at the top to print with the border. To remove the border later, repeat the steps and uncheck Frame Slides.

How to Set Frame Slides as the Default for a Presentation

If you want the Frame Slides border to appear every time you print a specific presentation, use the Header and Footer dialog. This method saves the setting inside the presentation file.

1. Open the Header and Footer dialog
   Go to Insert > Header & Footer. The dialog opens with two tabs: Slide and Notes and Handouts.
2. Select the Slide tab
   Click the Slide tab if it is not already selected.
3. Check Frame slides
   At the bottom of the Slide tab, check the box labeled Frame slides. The preview area shows a border around the slide thumbnail.
4. Apply to all slides
   Click Apply to All. The border is now saved with the presentation. Every time you print from this file, the border will be on unless you uncheck the option again.

Common Issues When Printing With Frame Slides

Frame Slides Checkbox Is Grayed Out

The Frame Slides checkbox in the Header and Footer dialog may be unavailable if you are editing the slide master. Exit the slide master view by clicking Close Master View on the Slide Master tab. Then open Insert > Header & Footer again. The checkbox should be active.

Border Prints but Is Cut Off on One Side

This is caused by the printer margins being larger than the border offset. Open File > Print > Printer Properties. Look for a setting called Borderless Printing or Minimum Margin. Set it to the smallest value your printer supports. If the option is not available, reduce the slide size slightly in Design > Slide Size > Custom Slide Size to fit within the printable area.

Frame Slides Does Not Apply to Notes Pages or Handouts

The Frame Slides checkbox in the Header and Footer dialog has two separate tabs. The Slide tab controls borders on slide pages. The Notes and Handouts tab has its own Frame slides checkbox. Open Insert > Header & Footer, click the Notes and Handouts tab, then check Frame slides to apply borders to handout and notes pages.

Frame Slides vs Other Print Border Options

Item	Frame Slides	Printer Border Settings
Location	Print screen layout dropdown or Header & Footer dialog	Printer Properties dialog in Windows
Border type	Thin black line around slide edge	User-defined margins or borderless mode
Saved with file	Yes when set via Header & Footer	No, printer settings are per job
Applies to	All printed slides, handouts, notes	All print jobs from any application
Requires printer support	No, works with any printer	Yes, borderless mode depends on printer model

The Frame Slides option is independent of printer border settings. You can use both together. For example, enable Frame Slides in PowerPoint and set the printer to borderless mode to get a border that extends to the physical paper edge.

If the Border Does Not Print Even After Enabling Frame Slides

When the Frame Slides checkbox is on and the preview shows a border, but the printed page does not, the printer driver is overriding the border. Open the printer queue in Windows Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners. Select your printer and click Printer properties. Under the Advanced tab, click Printing Defaults. Look for a Graphics or Layout tab and set Scaling to 100%. Some drivers scale the slide to fit the paper and remove the border. Disable any Fit to Page or Scale to Fit option.

Also check the paper size in File > Print. If the paper size in PowerPoint does not match the paper size loaded in the printer, the driver may scale the slide and drop the border. Set the paper size in Print to exactly match the printer tray.

You can now toggle the Frame Slides border in two ways. Use the Print screen layout dropdown for a one-time print with borders. Use Insert > Header & Footer to save the border setting with the presentation. If the border still does not print, check your printer driver scaling and margin settings before printing again.