If you suddenly find your hp printer not printing , do not fret or have a meltdown. There are many possible causes as to why your printer won’t print as and many solutions to the issue.
Maybe you find your printer not printing because of configuration errors, faulty drivers or even loose connections.
Whatever the case may be if you are asking the question ‘ why is my printer not printing ?’ You have come to the right place.
Simply walk through the possible fixes listed here and get your printer rolling again!
Why Won’t My HP Printer Print?
Connectivity issues, driver related problems or configuration faults are the most common reasons why you can find the hp printer not working . Here’s what to do:
- Troubleshoot the hardware
- Check the printer status
- Cancel Print Jobs
- Set your printer as Default
- Update the Driver
Fix 1: Troubleshoot the Hardware
It might seem really obvious, but if your otherwise functional printer is not printing anything all of a sudden, more often than not, it is a connectivity issue.
Follow these steps as you check the connection status between the computer and the printer and the printer and the wall power source.
Step 1: Ensure that the devices are properly connected and the cables are not loose.
Step 2: If you use a network to connect your printer to your computer, check that it is functional .
Step 3: Turn off the printer completely and unplug the power cord. Wait for two minutes.
Step 4: Plug the power cord back in and turn on the printer.
The printer should print normally.
Fix 2: Check the Printer Status
If you have checked the cables and everything is fine on that front, but still the printer is not printing, move on to the next round of steps to find out if there are any hardware problems.
Step 1: Check the paper tray to ensure that there is enough paper, properly set. Also, make sure that no bits and pieces of paper are stuck or jammed in the feeding tray or paper roller.
If there is, check your printer manual to find out how to safely remove it.
Step 2: Check ink or toner levels. If your printer is of a new model, double-clicking on your printer icon will take you to displayed ink or toner levels.
If you do not find it displayed, check the manual for your particular model to find how to check the ink status of your printer.
Sometimes, installing unoriginal ink or toner cartridges can lead you printer malfunction. In that case, you would need to reach out to hp printer support .
Fix 3: Cancel Print Jobs
A jammed print queue can also often times be a reason for new printing requests not being identified. While this step is a tad more technical, it isn’t too advanced for you to try.
To cancel old and pending print jobs and clear the queue, you can follow these fairly simple few steps:
Step 1: Go to the Control Panel from the Start Menu and select Devices and Printers .
(To access the Control Panel you can also press windows key + R . Once the Run box opens, type Control and hit enter .)
Step 2: Under Devices and Printers , find the HP printer that you are having issues with. Right-click on the icon and from the drop down options, select ‘ see what’s printing ’.
Step 3: On the top right corner, you’ll see the Printer tab. Click on it, a drop-down list will appear.
Step 4: From that list, select ‘ Run as Administrator ’.
Step 5: Again, open the Printer tab. This time, select ‘ Cancel All Documents ’.
Step 6: Select ‘ Yes ’ on the dialogue box to clear all pending jobs stuck in the printing queue.
Go back to your document/file and try printing it on that printer. If a jammed queue was the issue, you should be able to take a print out now. In case this does not fix the issue, move on to the next fix.
Fix 4: Set HP Printer as Default
So, you have troubleshot, checked status and cleared up the queue, only to find that you still can’t get the print job done- well, are you sending your print requests to the wrong printer or into the void? Here’s how you know:
Step 1: Hit the Windows + R together to open up the Run box.
Step 2: Type Control and press Enter to open the Control panel .
Step 3: Select Devices and Printers .
Step 4: Right click on the HP printer that is connected to your computer (and giving you a hard time!) and from the drop down list, select ‘ Set as default printer ’.
You’ll be able to see a nice green tick below the icon for your HP printer. Test print a document.
Fix 5: Update the Driver
Having checked out connectivity issues and printer status errors, you might want to consider updating your printer driver.
HP keeps releasing printer firmware updates to fix issues and bugs and improve the performance of their devices. Outdated drivers may become faulty and cause your printer to stop printing.
But worry not. You can manually update your HP printer driver from the official website by following these steps:
Step 1: Ensure that your printer device is connected to your computer via cable/local network and turned on.
Step 2: Follow the link provided below to open HP Customer Support- Software and Driver Downloads .
https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers
Step 3: Select Printer if a page displays saying ‘ let’s identify your product to get started ’.
Step 4: Type in the name and number of your printer model and Submit. (You can find the number on the body of your printer).
Step 5: The software page for your printer comes with default Windows Operating System . If you need to change it according to the version of windows you use, click on Change .
After selecting your Windows OS version, click on Change again.
Step 6: Click on Firmware and then click Download . (If you don’t find the Firmware option, it means that no current updates are available for your printer model.)
Step 7: Save the downloaded file to your computer.
Step 8: Locate the file and open it to begin installing the firmware update.
Step 9: Look out for the printer serial number when the HP Printer Update window comes up.
- If the serial number is displayed, check the box next to it and click on Update .
- If the serial number is displayed, but the status tab is greyed out indicating ‘ not applicable ’, then the update is not necessary for your model. So click cancel .
- If the serial number is not displayed and you have connected the printer to your computer on a local network, grab a USB cable to connect your printer to the computer. Refresh after 20 seconds and when the serial number displays, check the box and select Update .
Step 10: Click Ok after the updates are installed successfully.
There are a few additional steps that you have to take in case you had to use a USB cable to update your printer firmware. These are as follows:
- Open Control Panel
- Select Devices and Printers
- Right Click on the USB printer device that is the same as your printer model
- Select Remove device
- Disconnect the USB cable from both the printer and the computer
- Restart your computer
After restarting your computer, check to see if your printer is connected to your computer via the local network and try to print your document. You should be able to print it.
That’s it. You’ll now be able to print with your HP printer after trying out the above-mentioned fixes. If you’re facing any other problem with your printer, let us know in the comments below.