I know, you just got the dang thang to work again
And now it only spits out double sided printing.  Ah jeez...

Save the trees, save the earth. We are guardians of nature’s birth.

I searched far and wide for the schmaltziest quote I could find to make the point here.  It's all about saving the trees.  And who, but, Vladimir Putin, doesn't want to save trees? 

That said, IT HAS COME TO MY ATTENTION THAT a number of people, all with completely different printers, have had duplex printing (2 sided) suddenly turned on by default.  What Microsoft and the printer manufacturers don't get here is if you have tossed out a half of a ream of paper because the printer won't stop duplex printing — well you kind of defeated the whole purpose to make duplex printing the default.  Yes, given what I know, I am convinced this state is the result of a recent Microsoft Windows Update.

To thwart this dastardly scheme by Microsoft to sabotage your printing we must first look under the hood at the Windows settings. 
DISCLAIMER:  What follows is for Windows 11 and my crummy WalMart special Canon printer.  What you see will vary in layout depending on your printer software, but the overall principles and functions will be the same.

We click our gear icon and click to the Settings window.  And then click:

1. Bluetooth & Devices.

2. Printers & Scanners.

3. Click the right triangle at the far end of the Printers & Scanners control.

When the Printers & scanners screen opens, first look for your printer.  If you do not see your printer, then it is not properly installed.  You will want to visit the manufacturer's website to obtain the most current software.  If you are unfamiliar with what I just wrote, then contact a qualified technician to help you.

If the printer says OFFLINE, like you see below, then check that the printer is connected to the computer; the printer has power; and is turned on.  If you are unfamiliar with what I just wrote, then contact a qualified technician to help you.

Before you click the control next to your ONLINE printer, scroll down and insure "Let Windows manage my default printer" is turned off. This sounds good, but my experience is that it simply causes more problems that it solves.

Once you open the control for your particular printer what you will see might differ from are displayed here.  THE PRINCIPLES AND LABELS WILL BE THE SAME.  SO PLAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THE EXACT LABELS AND COMMANDS.

The Canon Printer has 4 preset printer settings.  For demonstration purposes here, I chose "Paper Savings" mode.  Here duplex printing is turned on by default.  Thus, making the point that printer manufacturers and Microsoft want you to consider not using as much paper.  Unless, of course, you just printed the 25 page paper and only 13 pages came out; and now you got to turn the stack over.  Or, check the discussed settings herein.

Except we're not done yet.  Common applications can set duplex printing to be the app's default or be unintentionally set to override the Windows setting you just made.  How about Word or Excel?  Yep, you should check those apps' settings before you hit print.  The Duplex Devil might just lurk below the surface. 

Below is a Word Print Screen for your consideration.  Notice the Settings dialog box.  The Duplex Devil may lurk.  Best to be sure.

Adobe apps also have their own settings for single or double sided printing.  You will notice a similarity in the different apps' controls to set duplex printing.  On the Adobe Acrobat Print Screen there is "More settings".  We click More Settings and a menu of controls opens up.  Scroll down to "Two-sided".  Check it off for single sided printing.

By now, you're probably tearing your hair out, and screaming at your monitor, "Does every APP want to control its own printing? Why bother even setting it in Windows, then.  Next you are going to tell me Google Chrome can even be set to double sided printing and drive me even further to drink?!" 

Well, I don't know about the latter, but as far as the former goes, my answer would be "Yep. I would learn to take a couple seconds and check each app's settings for Duplex Printing".  I mean, we all know those tree huggers are out to get you.

You might want to check the Windows control after each Windows Update.  Save yourself some future grief.

Gerald Reiff