Tips + Tutorials

Printer Not Printing? 8 Things to Check First

Before you threaten to throw the printer out the nearest window, run through these eight checks. Printer drama is usually less mysterious than it looks.

Make sure the printer is actually online

Start with the obvious stuff because printers love making simple problems look complicated. Check that the printer is powered on, awake, and not showing an Offline message.

Quick Check: If it says Offline, restart the printer and your computer before changing anything else.

Check the paper and ink or toner

A low cartridge, empty tray, paper jam, or tray that is not seated correctly can stop a print job even when everything else looks normal.

Quick Check: Open the printer and check for paper, jams, low ink or toner, and any warning lights or messages.

Make sure you picked the right printer

If you have more than one printer saved, Windows or your phone may be sending the job somewhere else entirely.

Quick Check: Before printing, look at the selected printer name and make sure it matches the one sitting in front of you.

Clear the print queue

One stuck job can hold every job behind it hostage. If the queue is full of old attempts, clear them out and start fresh.

Quick Check: Open the printer queue, cancel the stuck jobs, then send one simple test page.

Restart the printer and the device

Yes, the restart rule applies here too. Restarting both sides resets the connection and clears a surprising number of temporary errors.

Quick Check: Turn the printer off for about 30 seconds, turn it back on, then restart the computer or phone.

Check the Wi-Fi connection

Wireless printers need to be on the same network as the device sending the job. If the printer moved to another network or lost Wi-Fi, it may still appear saved but will not respond.

Quick Check: Check the printer's network status and confirm it is connected to the same Wi-Fi network as your device.

Remove and re-add the printer

If the saved printer connection is corrupted or outdated, removing it and setting it up again can rebuild the connection cleanly.

Quick Check: Remove the printer from your device, restart, then add the printer again.

Try a different file or app

Sometimes the printer is innocent and the file is the problem. A damaged PDF, odd browser window, or app glitch can make one print job fail while others work normally.

Quick Check: Try printing a simple webpage, document, or test page. If that works, troubleshoot the original file or app instead.

Still refusing to print?

At this point, note any error message, whether the printer works from another device, and whether a test page prints. Those three details make the next round of troubleshooting much faster.