My Printer Won’t Print

“I’ve clicked on the print icon a dozen times and still my printer won’t print!”

It happens. There are a number of possible reasons why.  To troubleshoot the issue, inspect the following:

1. Check the obvious first; these things are often overlooked.

• See if the printer is plugged in and turned on. Make sure the machine has power.
• See if the printer is connected to the computer, either by a physical line to a USB, parallel, or serial connector or by wireless connection.
• See if there is paper in the paper tray. Make sure the paper is inserted correctly in the tray and the feed tray is seated correctly in the printer.

2. It may be the toner or ink cartridge is empty. Some printers will stop working if they detect an empty cartridge.  Try replacing it with a new cartridge.

3. It may be the printer you’re trying to print to is not selected as the default printer.  Check to see if this is the case by clicking the Start button in the bottom left-hand corner of your screen and then clicking Devices and Printers.  Right-click the icon of the printer you want to use and then click Set as default printer.

3. It may be your printer won’t print offline; for some this is the case.  Check to see if your printer has an online LED/LCD button.  Be sure it is set for ‘online’.

4. It may be a paper jam preventing the printer from working. If so, refer to What to do for Paper Jams to resolve the issue.  After clearing out a paper jam, you may need to ‘reset’ the printer to get it working again. Simply turn off the printer, wait 30 seconds, and then power it back up.

5.  It may be the printer queue is backed up with multiple documents waiting to print.  Check to see if this is the case by clicking the Start button in the bottom left-hand corner of your screen and then clicking Devices and Printers.  Click on the icon of the printer in question.  Click on ‘see what’s printing’ to open up the printer queue window.  From the ‘printer’ menu in the upper left-hand corner, select ‘cancel all documents’.  This will empty the queue.

6. It may be the printer’s memory is full or corrupted. If this is the case, turn off the printer and wait for a minute before powering it up again.

7. It may be a driver issue. Visit the printer manufacturer’s website and download the newest drivers for your printer. Uninstall the printer on your computer by clicking the Start button in the bottom left-hand corner of your screen and then clicking Devices and Printers. Right-click the icon of the printer you want to uninstall and then click Remove Device. Disconnect the printer from the computer. Restart your computer. Reconnect the printer to the computer and reinstall the printer and new drivers.