Skip to content Skip to sidebar Skip to footer

Epson Printer Will Not Print Unless I Turn the Printer Off and on Again

Technology is weird sometimes. I can command my thermostat with my voice, only somehow printers feel simply as confusing and unreliable as they were 10 years ago. If your printer is throwing you an error (or just ignoring your demands entirely), here'due south how to troubleshoot the problem so you can get dorsum to work.


Check Your Printer'southward Error Lights

printer lights

Frustrating as they can be, printers do sometimes tell you what the problem is and so yous can avoid trial-and-erroring your way through the troubleshooting process. Your printer may be showing an mistake message through a series of cryptic flashing, colored lights on the printer itself.

It isn't always clear which lights mean what, though, so y'all may need to bank check the manual to decode what your printer is saying. If you lot lost the transmission, y'all can usually download a PDF copy from the manufacturer'due south support folio for your printer.

Once you've figured out the error—due east.k., printer jam or no ink—jump downward to the corresponding section of this guide to diagnose information technology further. (If your printer isn't showing an error, keep reading.)


Clear the Printer Queue

printer queue

Sometimes, your reckoner's print queue can get jammed upwardly with old documents that failed to impress for one reason or another, holding up the document you need right now.

Correct-click on the printer icon in Windows' notification area, then choose Open All Printers to see a listing of currently queued items. In macOS, yous can see the queue fromArrangement Preferences > Printers & Scanners > Open Print Queue. Right-click any old items and clear them to get things chugging again.

Alternatively, in Windows, you can restart the impress spooler, which volition endeavor to print those documents every bit if they were only added to the queue (so y'all don't accept to clear them).

command prompt spooler

There are a few ways to exercise this, but the easiest is probably from the Control Prompt. Open the Commencement menu, search for "Command Prompt," correct-click the option that appears, and choose Run As Administrator. And so paste in the post-obit commands, pressing Enter afterward each one:

net stop spooler
del %systemroot%\System32\spool\PRINTERS\* /Q /F /S
internet start spooler

With any luck, this will bring your printer dorsum to life and yous'll get the document you've been waiting for.


Solidify the Connection

printer plug

This may audio silly, but if I had a nickel for every hour I've wasted troubleshooting something that wasn't plugged in, I'd exist halfway to buying a Snickers bar. Ensure the USB cable is plugged in snugly at both ends, and that the ability cable is plugged into the wall. You never know when someone unplugged it to accuse their phone without telling you lot.

If you're trying to print over Wi-Fi, endeavour plugging your figurer in via USB. If that works, yous know the problem exists with the Wi-Fi connection and can focus your effort there.

Is your printer getting a good enough point? Come across if the printer shows up in your router's network list, or try moving the printer closer to the router to see if information technology'south but out of range. No joke, my father-in-constabulary's printer doesn't work unless all the upstairs doors are open, considering they impede the already-weak Wi-Fi signal.


Ensure You Take the Right Printer

printer select

Again, this may seem basic, merely are y'all sure you lot've directed the document to the correct printer? If yous've used your computer with multiple printers—say, if you go back and forth between your home and office, or if yous just got a new printer at habitation—Windows may be trying to transport documents to the incorrect printer.

Endeavour printing the certificate once more, and be certain to chooseFile > Impress from the menu rather than using a shortcut. So, pay shut attending to the options that appear—if the drop-downwards card shows a different printer than the 1 y'all desire, click it to select the correct printer earlier standing. In some programs, similar Google Chrome, you lot may even need to click See More than for a full listing of connected printers.


Install the Drivers and Software

drivers

When you plug a printer into your PC, Windows will usually grab the necessary drivers for you lot. But in rare cases, you may need to head to the printer manufacturer'due south website, look upward the back up page for your model, and download the driver or software package manually—and so if yous haven't done so, try that at present.


Add Printer

add printer

If you're using your printer over Wi-Fi, you may need to add it to Windows' list of available printers before Windows will offer it as an option. In Windows 10, head toSettings > Devices > Printers & Scanners and click the Add a Printer or Scanner push. If you lot're still using Windows vii (you lot shouldn't be), this is underControl Panel > Devices and Printers.

On a Mac, go toOrganisation Preferences > Printers & Scanners and click the plus sign. Your PC should search for printers on the network, and when it finds the ane you lot're looking for, click on information technology to add the printer to your list. Now, you should be able to print a document.


Check that Newspaper Is Installed (Not Jammed)

printer paper

I'1000 going to guess you lot've already ensured paper is in the tray, only just in case: put paper in the tray. Sometimes, though, printers are finicky—in that location may be newspaper loaded, but if the printer can't grab hold, it's going to call up it'southward empty. Try removing the paper tray, re-aligning the paper, and sliding it dorsum in.

In other instances, there may be some paper jammed in the mechanism. Normally your printer will tell you so, and you just need to open the access panel and pull the crumpled newspaper out. (Again, you may need to refer to your manual if y'all aren't certain where it opens up.)

Recommended by Our Editors

In some cases, your printer tin can say there'south a paper jam even if you don't see a canvas of paper stuck in the mechanism. When that happens, you may accept smaller bits of newspaper or other residue stuck inside the rollers that yous can't see. This ways you would accept to remove some of those components to clear the problem. If you aren't comfy doing so, bring it into a PC repair shop for help.


Fiddle With the Ink Cartridges

printer ink cartridge

If your printer tells you information technology's out of ink, simply youknow it isn't, in that location are a few things you tin can do. First, the print head may be clogged or dirty, and you tin make clean it out through your printer's built-in cleaning routine (which yous'll find detailed in the transmission).

Alternatively, if your printer's heads prevarication on the ink cartridges themselves—the little copper strip where the ink comes out—you tin blot it with a moisture paper towel to clean information technology upward. Once ink starts to flow more freely onto the towel, give information technology a quick dab with a dry newspaper towel before re-inserting the cartridge.

If you have a laser printer, you may be able to get a bit more toner out of the cartridge past shaking it from side to side, then re-inserting it.

It's also possible your printer just doesn't realize yous put in new ink cartridges. If it doesn't detect new ink automatically, there may exist a setting on the printer that allows you to "reset" the fill levels. Check your printer'due south manual to see how on your specific model.

Remember that sure 3rd-party cartridges may cause problems, too, so try genuine cartridges from the printer manufacturer to encounter if they work ameliorate.


Run the Printer's Cocky-Test

printer test

If you notwithstanding can't figure out the problem, it may assist to run a few diagnostic tests. Both your printer and your computer can print exam pages that may help y'all narrow down your consequence.

You can usually run your printer's self-exam past pressing a series of buttons as the printer boots upwards, which you'll find outlined in your printer's manual. Windows' examination pages tin can exist printed past heading toSettings > Devices > Printers & Scanners. Select your printer, and so click Manage > Print a Test Page.

If your printer's own exam folio comes out fine only Windows throws an error, you lot can exist reasonably sure you accept a software problem. If the printer tin can't even impress its ain exam folio, and so you'll want to focus on repairing the printer rather than driver or software issues. If you lot're lucky, your printer may even give you a test folio with an error lawmaking or other data on it you can decipher.

Like What Y'all're Reading?

Sign upward for Tips & Tricks newsletter for expert advice to get the most out of your engineering.

This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time.

whitemainst.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/what-to-do-when-your-printer-wont-print

Publicar un comentario for "Epson Printer Will Not Print Unless I Turn the Printer Off and on Again"