We know that when your printer is not printing it is usually at a time when you need it to print the most. In this guide, we aim to show you how to fix the printer problems like a pro and get your printer working as quickly as possible.
Why is the printer not responding?
There are so many possible reasons why your printer has stopped responding. It could be a hardware or software issue but before we start troubleshooting let’s check the basics.
- Is the printer switched on?
- Are all the leads connected securely?
- If you are using a wireless or ethernet connected printer then check both the computer and printer are connected to the network and are on.
- Check if the printer has any flashing lights or warnings these usually indicate a problem with the printer itself.
- Is there paper in the printer and it is aligned correctly, not jammed. Remove and replace.
- Are the ink cartridges running low or empty?
Everything is connected and correct but I still cannot print
You have checked everything physical mentioned above, it is also worth checking that any items which don’t belong to the printer haven’t fallen into the printer. We have removed paper clips, staples, even a tiny bit of chocolate bar wrapper from printers in our time.
Was the printer working recently?
If this is a new printer please go to our how to install a printer guide. The likelihood is that it is an install issue rather than a printing problem. We can help you correctly install the printer over there.
How to set the default printer
It is important to check that the printer you are checking is set as the default printer. We have more information on default printers here but to set the default printer, follow the below instructions.
For Windows 7 users
- Press the Windows key to activate the text box on the taskbar
- Type Printers in the text box on the taskbar and press Enter to select Devices and Printers
- Right-click the printer name you want to set as default
- Select Set as default printer
- Close Devices and Printers
- Try printing.
For Windows 10 users
- Press the Windows key to activate the text box on the taskbar
- Type Printers in the text box on the taskbar and press Enter
- Left-click the printer name you want to set as default
- Select Manage
- Click Set as Default button
- Try printing.
Note: If the ‘set as default’ option is not available, scroll down the list of printers and deselect Let Windows manage my default printer. When ticked this option sets the last printer you used as the default printer.
How to use Windows printer troubleshooter
If the printer is still not printing, we want to use the Windows printer troubleshooter tool. This is a very handy feature of Windows as it runs through basic checks and shows you how to fix the printer. To run the troubleshooter follow the below instructions.
For Windows 7 users
- Press the Windows key to activate the text box on the taskbar
- Type Printers in the text box on the taskbar and press Enter to select Devices and Printers
- Right-click the printer name you want to set as default
- Select Run the troubleshooter
- The troubleshooter will start, follow on-screen instructions
- Close Devices and Printers
- Try printing.
For Windows 10 users
- Press the Windows key to activate the text box on the taskbar
- Type Printers in the text box on the taskbar and press Enter
- Left-click the printer name you want to troubleshoot
- Select Manage
- Click Run the troubleshooter
- The troubleshooter will start, follow on-screen instructions
- Try printing.
What is the printer spooler?
The printer spooler is a software application service which manages how print jobs are sent to the printer. A bit like a bouncer outside a nightclub manages the people going into the club. The print spooler manages the items to be printed, keeping an orderly queue and sending them one at a time to the printer.
Additionally, the printer spooler allows the user to see a detailed list of the queued print jobs. From here the user can manage the list by pausing, deleting, restarting etc.
How to delete a print job from the printer spooler queue
Sometimes an item you sent to print gets stuck in the queue and prevents further print jobs from printing. This happens to all printers. There are a number of reasons why this happens, the print job is still buffering when it was sent to print, driver issues, corruption etc.
For Windows 7 users
- Press the Windows key to activate the text box on the taskbar
- Type Printers in the text box on the taskbar and press Enter to select Devices and Printers
- Right-click the printer name
- Select See what’s printing
- The printer queue window will open
- Right-click the print job name at the top and any print jobs that show as not responding
- Select Cancel
- The item should disappear. If an alert box appears and asks you to confirm. Click Yes
- Repeat until there are no jobs with a not responding status
- Try printing.
For Windows 10 users
- Press the Windows key to activate the text box on the taskbar
- Type Printers in the text box on the taskbar and press Enter
- Left-click the printer name you are trying to print to
- Select Manage
- Click the Open print queue button
- The printer queue window will open displaying the list of print jobs
- Right-click the print job at the top or any print jobs that show as not responding
- Select Cancel
- The item should disappear. If an alert box appears and asks you to confirm. Click Yes
- Repeat until there are no jobs with a not responding status
- Try printing.
How to restart the printer spooler and check it is switched on
Under normal circumstances, you can simply open the print queue, highlight the stuck job and then click delete. However, there are times when you might have to stop the print spooler to be able to remove the stuck item. Below are instructions on how to stop and restart the printer spooler service.
How to restart the printer spooler.
- Press the Windows key and the letter R at the same time
- A run box will appear. Type Services.msc in the run box and press Enter
- The services window will open
- Scroll down until you see Print Spooler in the name section
- Double-click Print Spooler and a new window will open
- Select startup type as Automatic
- Under Service Status section. Click the Stop button.
- Wait a few seconds and then under Service Status section. Click the Start button.
- Click Ok to close the window
- Delete all print jobs from the printer queue as shown in the above section.
- Try printing
Unable to delete a print job from the queue
Sometimes a stubborn error will not disappear, in this case, you can try the below instructions.
- Press the Windows key to activate the text box on the taskbar
- Type %WINDIR%\system32\spool\printers in the text box on the taskbar and press Enter
- A new window will open
- Delete all files in the folder
- Try printing
Checking for conflicts in device manager and updating driver
Sometimes the reason your printer is not printing is a hardware conflict or driver issue. We can use the device manager to scan for hardware changes and update the drivers for your printer.
- Press the Windows key to activate the text box on the taskbar
- Type Device Manager in the text box on the taskbar and press Enter
- The device manager will open and you should see Print queue and Printers
- If Printers does not show then your printer is either not connected correctly or missing the printer driver. Check all leads are connected and go to the How to fix missing printer drivers section below
- At this point, we are looking to see if there are any hazard symbols, they will be in Yellow. If you have any hazard symbols, double right-click a blank area of the device manager and select scan for hardware changes.
- Double-click Printers to expand
- The name of your printer should appear, right-click and select Update driver
- A new window will open asking you how you would like to search. Select Search automatically for updated driver software.
- Try printing
- Please note that if the driver shows as the best driver is already installed and you still cannot print. You could try following the steps again and this time select Browse my computer for driver software
- Then select Let me pick from a list of drivers available on my computer
- Highlight the printer name and select next
- Try printing
How to fix missing printer drivers
If Windows is unable to find your printer or the previous install is corrupt, you can remove the printer by right-clicking the printer icon and selecting remove device.
Lots of printer manufacturers have simple to install and set up software. You can search Google with the name of the printer and the words driver software. Please make sure you are on the official websites.
If searching the internet does not help we have a driver list of the most famous brands below. Click the link and either type or search the model of your printer.
Once downloaded, double click to run the driver software and follow onscreen instructions.
The printer is not printing – switch it off and on again
Sometimes the best option is to switch both the printer and the computer off and then turn them on again. This often fixes issues because on start up the computer and printer run through a list of tasks, starting all services and software programs fresh.
You could first try just turning the printer off. Leave it for a few minutes to clear anything it has saved in its memory and then turn it on again.
How to fix a printer that shows as offline
Since the introduction of Windows 10, this issue has appeared more and more. It is frustrating but easy to fix simply stop the print spooler and restart it. There are instructions on how to do this above.
Pop-up windows prevent the printer from printing
Some printers have pop-up alerts for low ink, low paper or common problems. Apart from being annoying, some printers will not continue to print until you acknowledge these printer popups by clicking ok or closing them. Check the taskbar to see if one has appeared.
Printing problems with an inkjet printer?
If your printer is an inkjet printer, then there is a chance that the ink in the printer has dried out or the nozzles are clogged. To stop this happening you need to use your inkjet printer regularly. Please see our post on inkjet printers.
Remember, some inkjet printers using multi-colour cartridges will not work if one colour runs out. Inkjet printers come with additional maintenance controls, see instructions below.
For Windows 7 users
- Press the Windows key to activate the text box on the taskbar
- Type Printers in the text box on the taskbar and press Enter to select Devices and Printers
- Right-click the printer name
- Select Properties
- Click the tab marked Maintenance
- Run through the Cleaning, Print Head Alignment, and Nozzle Checks
- Try printing
For Windows 10 users
- Press the Windows key to activate the text box on the taskbar
- Type Printers in the text box on the taskbar and press Enter
- Left-click the printer name you want to troubleshoot
- Select Manage
- Click Printer Properties
- Click the tab marked Maintenance
- Run through the Cleaning, Print Head Alignment, and Nozzle Checks
- Try printing
Printing problems with a laser printer?
Sometimes laser printers do not print if the cartridge is not inserted perfectly. Remove the cartridge and replace. Another issue is when the cartridge is running low on ink, provided there are no open holes in the cartridge, you can remove and give it a little shake before replacing.
Windows Update to fix the printer
Sometimes running a Windows update corrects any printer problems. To run a windows update please follow the instructions below.
For Windows 7 users
- Press the Windows key to activate the text box on the taskbar
- Type update in the text box on the taskbar and select Windows Update
For Windows 10 users
- Press the Windows key to activate the text box on the taskbar
- Type update in the text box on the taskbar and select Check for updates
- A new window will open, click the Check for updates button
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We really value your support and feedback here at Techsnail.com.
I had a problem where the printer would not print anything not even the tests of the printer itself, even though this was a great article, I tried everything here but it didn’t solve the problem.
turned out I had to clean the nozzle of the printer from the settings, hope this helps.
HP computer (had the same issue with windows10 as now 11 after it decided to upgrade itself when I wasnt looking) with HP printer that is hard wired. Wont print from webpages. But the real problem, (that usually takes several hours of messing with it to fix…) is that I rely upon it to print invoices daily for my business. It normally will print invoices generated from antique mall software program (even though no webpages or screenshots ever print) But EVERY TIME I change the ink cartridge, it quits printing. When I mess with fixing it, there is some wierd issue with “copy1” and “copy 2” jobs being in one que unable to print and issue of resetting the “default” printer. most times even when you see that copy2 is checked as default, it doesnt work. after much fiddling, if I manage to un check and/or switch the default to copy1 and then back to copy 2, really have no idea how I get it fixed, but it takes several hours of frustration and makes no sense whatsoever why there is even a “copy1” and “copy 2” BS . Other than running it over with my truck and buying a MAC, …. do you have any clues how to deal with this issue next time I have to change the ink cartridge? Thanks.
My printer will print from Microsoft Outlook (email) but will not print something from the internet.
Hi, I’m desperate for help. Driver is updated. It prints fine for some things, but not for excel and word. I have uninstalled and reinstalled. Rebooted the computer. Driver is updated. Test page prints perfectly. Help! Thanks!
i have done everything listed above and i still get blank pages….i am ready to throw it against the wall…i have unplugged,uninstalled,restarted,checked nozzles,cleaned heads,nothing works and yes the yellow tape is off. the cartridge check shows i have plenty of ink…nothing works!Joyce
My printer is not working in black colour… ink is full… paper is empty after print out
I am very disappointed that HP ENVY5642 has been discontinued. Now I am unable to print. It was working well before it was not opening up to print
Happy to help if I can. Please provide a little more info.
I have an hp oj pro 6978 printer. The printer is approximately 4 or 5 yrs old. It was working fine until about a week ago. I have gone through many processes and nothing has worked. I can copy, scan and print from my iphone but it will not print to my surface pro 3.
I have an HP Envy 7640 all in one printer,I was trying to print a 5×7 photo on 5×7 photo paper.but the printer keeps saying,suggest HP photo paper with colorlock,and will NOT print on regular HP photo paper.Have any ideas?
Thank you,
Rich
Hi Rich, I am afraid I don’t have that printer to troubleshoot, however, I did find a thread with answers that might help you solve your problem. https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Printer-Setup-Software-Drivers/HP-printer-recommends-ColorLok/td-p/6048034
I don’t see my problem. My printer will only print the first page of a print job. For instance, my bank statement has several pages but the printer will only print the first page.
Hi Fretta, this sounds like within your print settings you have either selected ‘current page only’ or where it says PAGES you have just the number 1. Depending on which program you are using to print you should leave the section ‘PAGES’ blank or alternatively type 1-5 (if it is 5 pages).
If you can’t see any settings then rather than clicking the print icon you should click file and then print to show settings. I hope this helps but please come back to me if it does not. I will also email you.
Chris
Thanks for posting information with us. Paper jam problems will make you angry while you are printing an important document. You have to service your printer time to time when for great printing. If anyone needs printer service, I recommend him Datasyst Technology Services. They have experts for fixing major problems of the printer. For contacting Datasyst you can visit “www.datasyst.net”.
Thanks helpful Content.
Can you tell me what platform are you utilizing on this website?
Hi Bryon, thank you for visiting our site. We are using the WordPress platform for Techsnail.com. We also use Siteground as our hosting provider and you can use our referral link below for hosting and WordPress.
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