what to do if your printer wont print
Technology is weird sometimes. I tin can control my thermostat with my vox, simply somehow printers experience but as confusing and unreliable as they were 10 years agone. If your printer is throwing y'all an mistake (or just ignoring your demands entirely), hither's how to troubleshoot the problem so you tin go back to work.
Bank check Your Printer'south Fault Lights
Frustrating as they can be, printers do sometimes tell you what the trouble is so you tin can avoid trial-and-erroring your way through the troubleshooting process. Your printer may be showing an error message through a series of ambiguous flashing, colored lights on the printer itself.
Information technology isn't always clear which lights mean what, though, then you lot may need to check the transmission to decode what your printer is saying. If you lot lost the manual, y'all tin can unremarkably download a PDF copy from the manufacturer's support page for your printer.
One time you've figured out the error—e.one thousand., printer jam or no ink—jump downward to the corresponding department of this guide to diagnose information technology further. (If your printer isn't showing an error, continue reading.)
Clear the Printer Queue
Sometimes, your computer'southward print queue can get jammed upward with onetime documents that failed to print for 1 reason or another, holding upward the document you demand right at present.
Right-click on the printer icon in Windows' notification area, then choose Open All Printers to meet a list of currently queued items. In macOS, you can see the queue fromSystem Preferences > Printers & Scanners > Open Print Queue. Right-click any former items and articulate them to get things chugging again.
Alternatively, in Windows, yous can restart the print spooler, which will effort to impress those documents every bit if they were only added to the queue (then you don't accept to articulate them).
There are a few ways to do this, but the easiest is probably from the Control Prompt. Open the Kickoff menu, search for "Command Prompt," right-click the option that appears, and cull Run As Administrator. Then paste in the following commands, pressing Enter after each ane:
internet end spooler del %systemroot%\System32\spool\PRINTERS\* /Q /F /South net starting time spooler With any luck, this volition bring your printer back to life and you'll go the document you lot've been waiting for.
Solidify the Connection
This may audio empty-headed, but if I had a nickel for every hr I've wasted troubleshooting something that wasn't plugged in, I'd be halfway to ownership a Snickers bar. Ensure the USB cable is plugged in snugly at both ends, and that the ability cable is plugged into the wall. Yous never know when someone unplugged it to charge their telephone without telling you.
If you lot're trying to impress over Wi-Fi, try plugging your computer in via USB. If that works, you know the problem exists with the Wi-Fi connection and tin focus your attempt there.
Is your printer getting a skilful plenty signal? See if the printer shows upwards in your router's network listing, or try moving the printer closer to the router to see if it'south simply out of range. No joke, my father-in-law'due south printer doesn't piece of work unless all the upstairs doors are open up, because they impede the already-weak Wi-Fi signal.
Ensure You Have the Right Printer
Again, this may seem basic, but are you certain you've directed the document to the correct printer? If yous've used your reckoner with multiple printers—say, if you go dorsum and forth between your domicile and office, or if you lot just got a new printer at home—Windows may be trying to send documents to the wrong printer.
Try printing the document again, and be sure to cullFile > Print from the menu rather than using a shortcut. Then, pay close attention to the options that appear—if the drib-down bill of fare shows a different printer than the one you desire, click it to select the correct printer before continuing. In some programs, like Google Chrome, you may even need to click See More for a full list of connected printers.
Install the Drivers and Software
When y'all plug a printer into your PC, Windows will usually catch the necessary drivers for you. Simply in rare cases, you may need to head to the printer manufacturer's website, look upward the support page for your model, and download the driver or software package manually—so if you lot haven't done so, try that now.
Add Printer
If you're using your printer over Wi-Fi, yous may need to add it to Windows' listing of available printers before Windows will offer it as an option. In Windows x, head toSettings > Devices > Printers & Scanners and click the Add a Printer or Scanner button. If you're still using Windows vii (you shouldn't exist), this is underCommand Panel > Devices and Printers.
On a Mac, become toSystem Preferences > Printers & Scanners and click the plus sign. Your PC should search for printers on the network, and when it finds the one you're looking for, click on it to add the printer to your listing. At present, you should be able to print a document.
Check that Paper Is Installed (Not Jammed)
I'g going to guess y'all've already ensured paper is in the tray, but just in case: put paper in the tray. Sometimes, though, printers are finicky—there may be paper loaded, but if the printer tin't take hold of concur, information technology's going to think it'southward empty. Endeavour removing the paper tray, re-aligning the paper, and sliding it dorsum in.
In other instances, there may exist some paper jammed in the mechanism. Usually your printer will tell you so, and yous just need to open up the access panel and pull the crumpled newspaper out. (Again, y'all may need to refer to your manual if you aren't sure where it opens up.)
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In some cases, your printer can say in that location'due south a paper jam fifty-fifty if you don't see a sail of paper stuck in the machinery. When that happens, y'all may have smaller bits of paper or other balance stuck inside the rollers that you can't come across. This means you would have to remove some of those components to clear the trouble. If you lot aren't comfortable doing so, bring it into a PC repair store for aid.
Fiddle With the Ink Cartridges
If your printer tells you it's out of ink, merely youknow information technology isn't, there are a few things you can do. Start, the print head may be chock-full or dingy, and y'all tin can clean it out through your printer's built-in cleaning routine (which y'all'll observe detailed in the manual).
Alternatively, if your printer'south heads prevarication on the ink cartridges themselves—the little copper strip where the ink comes out—you lot tin can blot information technology with a moisture newspaper towel to clean it up. Once ink starts to flow more freely onto the towel, give it a quick dab with a dry paper towel before re-inserting the cartridge.
If you have a light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation printer, you lot may be able to get a bit more toner out of the cartridge past shaking information technology from side to side, and so re-inserting it.
It's also possible your printer just doesn't realize you put in new ink cartridges. If it doesn't detect new ink automatically, in that location may be a setting on the printer that allows you to "reset" the fill levels. Check your printer'southward manual to see how on your specific model.
Call back that certain third-party cartridges may crusade issues, also, so try genuine cartridges from the printer manufacturer to run into if they work better.
Run the Printer's Self-Exam
If yous still can't figure out the trouble, information technology may help to run a few diagnostic tests. Both your printer and your figurer tin can print examination pages that may help you narrow downwardly your issue.
You lot can usually run your printer'south self-test past pressing a series of buttons as the printer boots up, which you'll notice outlined in your printer's transmission. Windows' test pages can be printed by heading toSettings > Devices > Printers & Scanners. Select your printer, so click Manage > Print a Test Folio.
If your printer'due south ain test folio comes out fine but Windows throws an error, yous can be reasonably sure you have a software problem. If the printer tin't fifty-fifty print its own examination page, and then you lot'll desire to focus on repairing the printer rather than driver or software bug. If you're lucky, your printer may even requite y'all a examination page with an error code or other information on it you can decipher.
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Source: https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/what-to-do-when-your-printer-wont-print
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