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How to restore rpt file to normal in Access

Anonymous
2025-04-28T18:26:28+00:00

For the past week, Access has been previewing and even downloading rpt files as distorted and misaligned files. No one else in my department has this issue and I've been searching and not finding a solution. I am also unsure if a fix is possible since I use Access as a database with other employees. Basically, if one change is done, then it could backfire to others. The image above shows what is happening and how it looks when downloaded to a PDF.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Access | For business | Other

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  1. Tom van Stiphout 40,086 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2025-04-28T18:58:12+00:00

    I know that. I've been around Access for a while.
    The Access reports code uses a Printer Device Context to calculate font sizes and margins, among other things. The default printer is used for that. The wrong or no default printer may cause issues.

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  1. Tom van Stiphout 40,086 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2025-04-28T18:30:01+00:00

    I have seen at least one other report of this issue.
    Change your Default Printer to another one, and uncheck the box to let Windows manage the default printer.

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  1. Anonymous
    2025-04-28T18:48:03+00:00

    A printer is not needed for this since it is emailed. We've never printed our rpts before and don't need to.

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  2. Duane Hookom 26,555 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2025-04-28T18:53:46+00:00

    Did you try Tom’s suggestion? He didn’t ask you to actually print anything.

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  3. ScottGem 68,775 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2025-04-28T21:03:58+00:00

    A printer is not needed for this since it is emailed. We've never printed our rpts before and don't need to.

    When export to PDF you are actually using a PDF writer installed on your PC. When you design a report, it uses the Default printer set in Windows to format the output.

    I would experiment with different PDF writers and define that as the default printer for the report and see if that fixes the problem.

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