Access Reports not printing correctly

Charles Coleman 25 Reputation points
2026-08-11T14:00:28.5733333+00:00

Have an Access program that has a report that prints lines between rows. We have one user that the lines are not showing in the Print Preview nor do they print on paper. This issue is affecting only 1 user in the company. No other user seems to be having this issue. This is a new computer that has less than 2 months of service on it. All updates are current.

They do not have "Print Data Only" checked. We have removed the printer Driver and re-installed. Tried different printers. Set it to print to PDF. None if these fixes the issue. It does print show a single line under a word but if you change the resolution the line will either disappear or move to another word but it will not print. We have also removed the Access program from the computer and re-added it.

The only solution we have found has been to remove all of Office 365 from the computer and re-install it. However, that solution only works for a short period and then comes back.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Access | For business | Windows
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Answer accepted by question author
George Hepworth 23,120 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
2026-08-11T14:21:01.51+00:00

There is an extended discussion here about what looks like a similar problem with lines in reports.

https://www.access-programmers.co.uk/forums/threads/access-2608-build-20326-line-controls-disappear-in-print-preview.335661/

Important to the discussion is the version and build of Access. Since you report this problem on your newest computer, it might be that it has the newer version and build, where the problem appears.

Check that discussion for ideas that might help you.

Also report the version and build on Access on the impacted computer. Also compare that to the other machines which do not display the behavior.

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  1. Kristen Tran 1,520 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2026-08-11T14:17:50.4466667+00:00

    Hi Charles,

    Thank you for the detailed information. Based on your troubleshooting results, this does not appear to be a printer driver issue since the lines are missing in Access Print Preview, and the behavior persists when printing to different printers as well as Microsoft Print to PDF.

    To help narrow down the cause, could you please provide the following information?

    1. Access Version and Build Number
      • Open Access and navigate to File > Account > About Access.
      • Please provide the Version and Build from:
      • The affected user's machine
      • A working user's machine
    2. Report Design Details
      • Are the missing separators created using:
      • Access Line controls, or
      • Borders/Rectangles/Textbox borders?
    3. Display Settings
      • What display scaling is configured on the affected machine (100%, 125%, 150%, etc.)?
      • Does the issue persist if the display scaling is temporarily changed to 100%?

    Additionally, please try the following these steps to migrate this situation:

    • Open Access in Safe Mode:

    msaccess /safe

    • Then open the report and check whether the lines appear in Print Preview.
    • If possible, create a simple test report containing both a Line control and a Rectangle control and verify whether only the Line control is affected. Similar reports indicate that Line controls may not render correctly in certain Access builds.

    The Access version/build information will be particularly helpful, as the behavior you've described aligns with a potential Access rendering issue rather than a printer-specific problem.

    For more information, please refer to the following link: Access 2608 Build 20326: Line controls disappear in Print Preview

    This link is shared by community members for your convenience. It points to a third-party site that is not managed or verified by Microsoft. I can’t guarantee the quality, safety, or suitability of any content or software found there. Please review carefully and make sure you understand any potential risks before using it.

    I hope this information is useful. Additionally, as other users have raised similar concerns and may not be aware of where to share their feedback, I hope this response helps clarify the situation and suggests a potential next step. Highlighting this information can make it more visible to others in the community who may be facing the same issue, making it easier for them to find guidance and contribute their feedback as well. 

    Thank you again for your time and for raising this important usability concern. If you have any further questions or need additional assistance, please don’t hesitate to reach out. 

    I look forward to your thoughts on this. 

    If the answer is helpful, please click "Yes" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".      

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  2. Charles Coleman 25 Reputation points
    2026-08-11T15:09:18.59+00:00

    It was the Build version of Access. The user having the issue was using build 2608 and everyone else is on 2607. I rolled it back to the previous build version and disabled automatic updates.

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