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Printer won't print

Step 1 of 5

Check the light, paper, and cable

Make sure the printer light is on, there is paper in the back tray, and the cable is plugged in.

The simulation shows Windows in English, like most laptops.

  1. Check the light, paper, and cable

    Make sure the printer light is on, there is paper in the back tray, and the cable is plugged in.

  2. Turn the printer off for 30 seconds

    Press the power button until the light goes off. Wait 30 seconds, then press it again.

  3. Open the print queue on your laptop

    Click Start, then follow this menu until you find Open print queue.

    SettingsBluetooth & devicesPrinters & scanners(printer)Open print queue

  4. Cancel the stuck document

    Right-click the document in the list, choose Cancel, then Yes.

  5. Turn off Offline mode

    Click the Printer menu at the top. If Use Printer Offline has a tick, click it once to remove the tick. Then try printing again.

  6. A blinking red or orange light on the printer usually means a paper jam or empty ink.

From basic to technician

BasicConnect a new printer to the laptopFixPaper jam in the printerFixPrints are faded, streaky or missing a colour
FixPrinter won't printYou are here
TechnicianPrint queue stuck: restart the Print Spooler serviceTechnicianPrinter still has errors: remove and reinstall its driver
Technician fixes (advanced)

The simple steps didn’t help? A technician would try these next, in this order. Stop as soon as the problem is fixed. Commands marked “as administrator”: right-click Start › Terminal (Admin).

  1. Print a test page from the printer itself

    Most printers print a status or nozzle page when you hold a button (see the manual, often the Stop/Cancel or WiFi button for a few seconds). If that page prints, the printer is fine and the problem is in Windows: queue, driver or connection.

  2. Set the right printer as default

    Settings › Bluetooth & devices › Printers & scanners: turn off Let Windows manage my default printer, then click your printer › Set as default. Otherwise documents may go to “Microsoft Print to PDF” or an old printer.

  3. WiFi printer: check that it is reachable

    Find the printer’s IP address on its network status page (printed with the button in step 1). Replace the address. No reply = the printer left the WiFi or changed address; reconnect it, and ask whoever manages the router to give it a fixed IP.

    ping 192.168.1.20

  4. Then go deeper

    Queue that won’t clear → restart the Print Spooler service. “Driver is unavailable” or errors after an update → remove and reinstall the printer driver. Both have their own guides in the learning path below.

Technical details (for the curious)

Where your document goes

App › Print Spooler service (the queue) › printer driver › cable/WiFi › printer. A stuck document blocks everything behind it; that is why cancelling it often fixes things at once.

Offline mode

Windows marks a printer “Offline” when it can’t reach it: the printer is off, the cable is loose, or a WiFi printer’s IP address changed. For a WiFi printer, giving it a fixed IP address in the router stops this coming back.

The “Driver is unavailable” status

That is a driver problem, not the printer. See the guide “Printer still has errors: remove and reinstall its driver”.

Coming soon

Still not fixed?

In the next update you can tell us what happened, and our AI helper will suggest another way. Until then, restart the device and go through the steps once more.