[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":267},["ShallowReactive",2],{"en-post-28":3},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"description":12,"extension":260,"meta":261,"navigation":262,"path":263,"seo":264,"stem":265,"__hash__":266},"content/post/28.md","28",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":251},"minimark",[9,13,16,25,30,33,66,70,73,78,89,92,113,117,120,141,145,148,181,185,188,203,207,213,226,232,238,242],[10,11,12],"p",{},"The printer shows offline, nothing happens when you print, a queue of documents is stuck, or the page comes out blank. Printers cause more small failures than anything else in an office or a home. In most cases the machine itself is fine and the problem is the connection, the print spooler, or the driver.",[10,14,15],{},"Work from software to hardware. The first two sections solve most of it.",[10,17,18,19,24],{},"If several computers share one printer and they can reach it but cannot print, that is a sharing problem, covered in ",[20,21,23],"a",{"href":22},"/post/17/","Windows File and Printer Sharing on a Local Network",".",[26,27,29],"h2",{"id":28},"step-1-printer-offline-or-showing-an-error-state","Step 1: Printer offline or showing an error state",[10,31,32],{},"The most common symptom is a job that sits at Printing forever, or a status that reads Offline.",[34,35,36,48,54,60],"ol",{},[37,38,39,43,44,47],"li",{},[40,41,42],"strong",{},"Turn off Use Printer Offline."," Settings > Bluetooth and devices > Printers and scanners, select your printer, open the print queue, choose the Printer menu, and check that ",[40,45,46],{},"Use Printer Offline"," is not ticked. Ticked means forced offline, so click it once to clear. On Windows 10 the entry point is Settings > Devices > Printers and scanners.",[37,49,50,53],{},[40,51,52],{},"Restart the printer and the computer."," Switch the printer off for 10 seconds and back on, since many temporary hangs clear with a restart. For a network printer, restart the router or switch while you are at it.",[37,55,56,59],{},[40,57,58],{},"Check the connection."," Reseat the USB cable or use another port. For a network printer, confirm it is on the same subnet as the computer and that its IP has not changed, and for a wireless one check it did not join the wrong Wi-Fi.",[37,61,62,65],{},[40,63,64],{},"Make it the default printer."," On the same page, set the printer you use to default, so jobs do not land on a virtual printer that no longer exists.",[26,67,69],{"id":68},"step-2-when-the-print-queue-is-stuck","Step 2: When the print queue is stuck",[10,71,72],{},"Jobs that spin forever, cannot be deleted, and block new ones mean the print spooler has hung. Clearing it by hand is what works.",[34,74,75],{},[37,76,77],{},"Open a command prompt as administrator and run these three in order.",[79,80,85],"pre",{"className":81,"code":83,"language":84},[82],"language-text","net stop spooler\ndel /q /f /s \"%SystemRoot%\\System32\\spool\\PRINTERS\\*.*\"\nnet start spooler\n","text",[86,87,83],"code",{"__ignoreMap":88},"",[10,90,91],{},"That stops the spooler, clears the stuck jobs, and starts it again.",[34,93,95,110],{"start":94},2,[37,96,97,98,101,102,105,106,109],{},"Or use the services console. Press ",[86,99,100],{},"Win + R",", type ",[86,103,104],{},"services.msc",", find ",[40,107,108],{},"Print Spooler",", and choose Restart.",[37,111,112],{},"Send a test page afterwards, using Print Test Page in the printer's properties.",[26,114,116],{"id":115},"step-3-driver-problems","Step 3: Driver problems",[10,118,119],{},"When the queue is fine but nothing prints, or output is garbled or half a page, suspect the driver.",[34,121,122,132,138],{},[37,123,124,127,128,131],{},[40,125,126],{},"Reinstall or update the driver."," Settings > Printers and scanners, select the printer, choose ",[40,129,130],{},"Remove device",", then Add printer so Windows discovers it and installs the driver again. Or download the current driver for your exact model from the vendor's own site, with the model taken from the label on the machine.",[37,133,134,137],{},[40,135,136],{},"Driver compatibility."," Older printers may only have a generic driver on Windows 11, with reduced features, and some models need to be installed in compatibility mode.",[37,139,140],{},"If printing only broke after an update, roll back the recently installed driver or update and see whether it recovers.",[26,142,144],{"id":143},"step-4-hardware-and-consumables","Step 4: Hardware and consumables",[10,146,147],{},"Once the software side is ruled out, look at the machine.",[149,150,151,157,163,169,175],"ul",{},[37,152,153,156],{},[40,154,155],{},"Paper jam."," Open the cover the display tells you to, and pull the torn piece out gently in the direction the paper travels, never yanking it. Check the feed rollers for scraps and the paper for damp or excessive thickness.",[37,158,159,162],{},[40,160,161],{},"Blank pages, wrong colours, streaks."," Check whether the ink or toner is low. On an inkjet, run a head cleaning cycle under Printer properties > Maintenance. On a laser printer, rock the cartridge to spread the toner.",[37,164,165,168],{},[40,166,167],{},"Only half the page, or content cut off."," The paper size or type is wrong, A4 against Letter, or the margins are too large. Check the paper setting and Actual size in Printing preferences.",[37,170,171,174],{},[40,172,173],{},"A USB printer is not detected."," Try another port or cable, or look in Device Manager for an unknown device with a warning icon, which usually means no driver is installed.",[37,176,177,180],{},[40,178,179],{},"A network printer cannot be reached."," Confirm the IP, then under Add printer choose to add by IP address and use a TCP/IP port, which is steadier than relying on discovery.",[26,182,184],{"id":183},"step-5-the-extra-traps-on-shared-printers","Step 5: The extra traps on shared printers",[10,186,187],{},"When several computers share one printer and the host can print while the others cannot, it is usually sharing or permissions.",[149,189,190,193,200],{},[37,191,192],{},"The host needs network discovery and file and printer sharing enabled, and the printer has to be shared with a share name.",[37,194,195,196,199],{},"On the client, choose to access the network printer by name or IP, and the common error ",[86,197,198],{},"0x80070035"," is handled in the sharing article linked at the top.",[37,201,202],{},"Clients go offline when the host sleeps or shuts down, so keep the host on or stop it from powering down when idle.",[26,204,206],{"id":205},"questions","Questions",[10,208,209,212],{},[40,210,211],{},"Why did my printer suddenly go offline?","\nMost often Use Printer Offline is ticked, or the printer lost power or network and Windows marked it offline. Clear the tick, then power the printer off and on again.",[10,214,215,218,219,222,223,24],{},[40,216,217],{},"Is clearing the print queue with commands safe?","\nThe ",[86,220,221],{},"net stop spooler"," step and deleting the spool folder contents only clear pending jobs, and leave installed drivers and your documents alone. Remember to bring the service back with ",[86,224,225],{},"net start spooler",[10,227,228,231],{},[40,229,230],{},"Pages come out blank but the ink level looks fine?","\nOn an inkjet that is usually a clogged head, so run one or two head cleaning cycles. On a laser printer the sealing tape may still be on the cartridge or the toner may have clumped, so rock it and try again.",[10,233,234,237],{},[40,235,236],{},"I changed routers and the network printer disappeared?","\nThe printer's IP changed. Find the new one on the printer's panel or in the router's admin page, then add it again by IP address.",[26,239,241],{"id":240},"summary","Summary",[10,243,244,245,247,248,250],{},"For a printer that will not print, work through clear the offline setting, restart the spooler, reinstall the driver, then check for jams or low ink, and most cases recover. A stuck queue clears fastest with ",[86,246,221],{}," and ",[86,249,225],{},". Take drivers only from the vendor's site. Several machines sharing one printer is a sharing problem. On the hardware side, remember three things, pull jams out in the direction of travel, run head cleaning on an inkjet, and rock the cartridge on a laser. If nothing helps and the machine is old, replacing it is often the easier answer.",{"title":88,"searchDepth":94,"depth":94,"links":252},[253,254,255,256,257,258,259],{"id":28,"depth":94,"text":29},{"id":68,"depth":94,"text":69},{"id":115,"depth":94,"text":116},{"id":143,"depth":94,"text":144},{"id":183,"depth":94,"text":184},{"id":205,"depth":94,"text":206},{"id":240,"depth":94,"text":241},"md",{},true,"/post/28",{"description":12},"post/28","M3radl7bGqnazoeYYWVrEVEnFQbn-_bnLAey3dhEUvk",1794378303595]