Printer printing mirror image: how to stop pages printing backwards

A printer printing mirror image pages, with text that reads backwards as if seen in a mirror, looks like a serious fault, but it almost never is. A printer reverses a page only because something told it to: a mirror or flip option in the app, the printer driver, a saved preset or the printer’s own menu. Iron-on and T-shirt transfer modes do it on purpose. This guide finds the setting, turns it off and stops it from coming back.

If the page is rotated or upside down rather than reversed, see printer printing wrong orientation. If it is filled with random symbols, see printer printing gibberish. For anything else, start at the printer troubleshooting guide.

Mirror image, rotation or garbage?

Hold the page up to a mirror. If the text reads normally in the mirror, the page is a true mirror image and this guide applies.

• Text reversed left to right, otherwise clean: a mirror, flip horizontal or transfer setting.
• Page upside down or sideways: orientation or rotate 180 settings, a different problem.
• Random characters, lines of code or symbols: a driver or data problem, not a mirror.
• Mirrored only on the second side of a double-sided page: usually a flip-on-long-edge or flip-on-short-edge choice; see printer printing double sided.

Step 1: Find out who is mirroring

Print a short document with large text from a simple program, such as Notepad in Windows or TextEdit on a Mac.

• If the test prints normally, the problem is in the app you were using or the document itself. Go to Step 2.
• If the test is also mirrored, the setting is in the driver, a preset or the printer. Go to Step 3 (Windows) or Step 4 (Mac), then Step 5.

This one test saves a lot of clicking through menus that are not involved.

Step 2: Turn off mirroring in the app

Many programs have their own flip option, separate from the printer’s settings. They are common in:

• photo and design apps, under print options, output or advanced settings, often called Flip horizontal, Mirror, Emulsion down or Print as mirror image,
• label, card and craft apps, which may offer a T-shirt or iron-on transfer mode,
• presentation and drawing apps, where an image or text box may itself have been flipped with a Flip horizontal command.

Check two things. First, the print dialog and page setup of the app for a mirror or transfer option. Second, the document: if only one picture or one text box is reversed and the rest is fine, that object was flipped in the document, and the fix is to flip it back in the app rather than in any print setting.

Step 3: Check the printer driver in Windows 11

If every app prints mirrored, look in the driver.

1. Open Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners and select the printer.
2. Choose Printing preferences.
3. Look through the tabs for Mirror image, Mirror printing, Flip horizontal, Reverse image or Transfer. Driver layouts differ: the option is often on a Layout, Advanced, Effects, Page Setup or Paper/Quality tab.
4. Check the paper or media type too. On some drivers, choosing an iron-on, T-shirt transfer, back-print film or similar media type turns mirror printing on automatically. Set it to plain paper or the paper you are actually using.
5. Select OK and print the text test again.

Settings in Printing preferences become the default for all apps. Settings changed only in an app’s print dialog usually apply to that job or that app session, so a fix there may not stick. If you do not see the options you expect, check Printer properties > Advanced and make sure Enable advanced printing features is on, unless it was turned off on purpose to fix another problem.

Step 4: Check the Mac print dialog

macOS has its own flip option that works with any printer.

1. Choose File > Print.
2. If you see a short dialog, choose Show Details.
3. Open the Layout section from the pop-up menu (its position depends on the app and the macOS version).
4. Clear Flip horizontally.
5. Look at the Presets menu. If a preset you use was saved with Flip horizontally on, choose it, clear the option and save it again, or switch to Default Settings.

If the Mac has other print problems after this, see printer not working on Mac.

Step 5: Check the printer and anything shared

Some printers store print settings of their own, especially for copying, printing from a memory card or USB stick, and printing from a phone.

• Look in the printer’s control panel or its built-in web page for print settings, default settings or a transfer or mirror option.
• If only copies come out mirrored, check the copy settings on the panel, not the computer.
• On an office printer shared from a print server or another PC, the default settings may come from that shared queue. Ask whoever manages the printer, or check whether other users see the same thing.

If the defaults are a mess and you cannot find which one is responsible, resetting the printer to factory settings clears stored print defaults, though it also clears network settings, so note them first.

When the mirror comes back

If you turn the option off and it returns a few jobs later, one of these is usually behind it:

• A saved preset or a default in Printing preferences still has the mirror on. Change it there, not just in the app’s dialog.
• A second copy of the printer exists in Windows, with different settings. Remove the copy you do not use so jobs always go to the one you fixed.
• The media type is still set to a transfer type in the driver or the app.
• A template or document saved with a flipped object keeps bringing it back.

If none of these explain it and the driver itself seems damaged (options missing, settings not saving), reinstall the driver. The steps for a damaged or missing driver are in printer driver is unavailable.

Printing a mirror image on purpose

Mirror printing exists for good reasons. Iron-on and T-shirt transfers are printed reversed so the design reads correctly when it is turned over and pressed onto the fabric. Some window decals, back-print films and transfer media work the same way.

If that is what you want:

• follow the instructions supplied with the transfer paper for which side to print on and whether to mirror,
• set mirror in one place only, the app or the driver, because two mirror settings cancel each other out,
• print a test on plain paper first and check it in a mirror,
• turn mirror off again when you finish, or save it as a separate preset so normal printing is not affected.

Quick checklist

• Text test from Notepad or TextEdit printed to see where the mirror comes from.
• App print, page setup and transfer options checked; flipped objects in the document flipped back.
• Driver Printing preferences checked for mirror, flip and transfer media types.
• Mac Layout section and saved presets checked for Flip horizontally.
• Printer panel and web page defaults checked, including copy settings.
• Duplicate printer entries removed and defaults saved where they will stick.