Does your office printer play tricks and don’t print? Before throwing it out of the window in a hysterical fit, stop, breathe deeply and try one of the following solutions: in 90% of cases, they will solve your problem. For the remaining 10%, at least make sure that no one is passing by at that moment in the street.
Technology sometimes seems to have a real sense of humour: when you print a black and white drawing for your nephew to colour, it works perfectly, but when you send a document to print to be presented 10 minutes later to a customer. Even in technology, information technology and related devices, there is always a cause and, therefore, a solution. Let’s see the most common cases, with their possible resolution.
When the problem is at the source
In some cases (it’s unbelievable, but that’s the way it is), the problem is at the source, that is, with the printer itself, because you are neglecting a seemingly futile detail but decisive.
For this: have you made sure that the printer is turned on? Is it connected to the power and to the computer (if it is not wireless)?
Go to the front of the printer and check that there are no orange or red lights on. It could be that some of your colleagues have left a sheet of paper jammed, that there is no paper in the drawer or, again, that the printer cartridge has run out. If you were suffering from not printing and said, Why Won’t My Epson Printer Print? Here is the solution to your question.
The printer is on, makes copies, but does not print from a pc
The answer in most cases here is “drivers”, especially if you’re using Windows. Check that everything is ok in Device Manager and if not, try reinstalling the drivers from the CD or the manufacturer’s website.
- When you open Devices and Printers, check that the Printer Status is “Ready”, for some reason, it may be paused or “offline” on your computer.
- Check that the printer you intend to print to is also the Default printer.
- Check the Print Queue. For example, if there was no card last time, it may be that some option has been activated that prevents the procedure.
- Sometimes it can be, for example, the flag “Use printer offline”, which must be deactivated to print or a “Continue printing” must be requested.
If the printer is on the network
There are situations in which the printer’s IP registered on the PCs is fixed, but if the DHCP is not set correctly, the printer can change the IP address, thus resulting online from all the PCs on the network.
This situation can occur both in a printer connected to the LAN and a printer connected via Wi-Fi. In this case, one of the possible causes is the replacement of the Wi-Fi network password, which will also need to be updated on the printer.
Some printers have a control panel from which it is possible to enter the new password. In contrast, it will be necessary for others to temporarily connect the printer with the cable to a PC or the LAN network to configure it correctly.
If the device is a network printer, check the local IP address that has been assigned to it. If the printer’s IP is not compatible with that of the router, the printer will not work.
THEREFORE, an IP address must be assigned to the printer, which is not assigned to any other device connected to the local network and within the range provided by the server.
Usually, the router automatically assigns IP addresses to different clients, so if there have been any changes, you can reconfigure the router to restore the situation from scratch.
Check the Printer Status
However, if none of the above options reflects the nature of your problem, the cause could be: “Printer in error state”!
In this circumstance, it is necessary to access the printer status area and carry out a check; if you find a printer error message, there may be an actual machine problem. In this case, you need to:
Make sure the printing device is turned on 7
- Check that it is connected to the computer (cable or wireless)
- Make sure ink and paper are present
- Check the cover (if it is open perhaps or if there is jammed paper).
Check jammed paper
The last step is to check if the printer returns a paper jam error. In this case, follow the printer’s instructions and remove the jammed sheet of paper from the tray.
Paper jams in the printer can be caused by various factors, such as inadequate weight or poor quality paper types or paper size not supported correctly by your machine.
Proceed to purchase quality photocopy paper to no longer run into printing problems due to printer paper’s poor choice. Remember the right weight and size for each device