well, after all that, I have found a way that has probably been there all this time but I did not know about it.
- Select "Print/File" at the top of the Forms screen
- When it asks 'What information would you like to save or print?' select "individual forms"
- you then get a pop-up where you can select each form you want to save or print. If you select all the worksheets then hit "Save PDF copy for your records" all that have been selected will save in one PDF.
- on the same screen you can opt to select 'print for your records' and all the selected forms will print.
- this is a way better option than selecting "Federal Tax Return" to save or print. In fact, you can select the tax return forms and the worksheets all in one PDF.
If you select 'Federal Tax Return' and save as PDF or print you get a bunch of unnecessary forms (despite first clearing unwanted forms and closing blank forms). If you have ever even opened a form to look at it to see what it is, a number will post in there and get saved and printed with the return even if it is not relevant to the return. For example, I once opened the Ontario Tax credit form and now it always prints/saves even though my income is too high for me to get any Ontario tax credits. This new method I have found to select only relevant forms to save and print is way better.
