Printers and Scanners are the devices that are most used in offices, schools, banks, etc. This makes the work easier for printing and scanning documents for various purposes.
These days many Windows users started getting into trouble while trying to print any original using their printer on the Windows system. They were unable to print any document because of the error printing message. When they simply give a print command, instead of printing the document, it throws an error printing message.
This problem is caused due to some technical problem with the printer or with other issues with the system. Some of the factors responsible for this error message are listed below.
- Problem with the Windows system.
- There are no papers in the paper tray of the printer.
- Printer physical damage.
- The service related to the printer has some issues.
- Outdated USB and Printer drivers
- Many printing files are stuck in the printer spool folder
We then started analyzing the possible factors that are causing this issue with the printer and collected some information. If you are going through a similar kind of problem with printing a document, then please go through this article below to find the best possible fixes.
Workaround to try before proceeding – We advise users to try restarting their system a few times and then check if the printing command is getting executed fine. Also, make sure you restart the printer device as well.
Fix 1 – Check the Print Spooler Service
If the Print Spooler service which is responsible for the printing task on the system is stopped due to some unknown reason, it causes an error printing message while trying to print something. So first you need to check if the print spooler service is running and clear the printing tasks from the spool printer folder.
Here are the steps on how to check if the print spooler service is running or not.
Step 1: Press the Windows key and type services on the keyboard.
Step 2: Select the Services app from the search results as shown in the image below.
Step 3: Once the Services app window opens, find the Print spooler service at the bottom of the list of services.
Step 4: Now right-click on the Print spooler service and click on Restart
After that right click and select Properties from the context menu.
Step 5: In the Print Spooler Properties window, make sure the General tab is selected.
Step 6: Then select Automatic from the dropdown list of Startup type option and click the Start button below it.
Step 7: This starts the Print spooler service on the system and once it is started, click Apply and OK.
Step 8: Close the services app window.
Step 9: Next, open the run box by pressing the Windows and R keys together.
Step 10: Type C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\PRINTERS in the run command box’s textbox and press Enter key.
Step 11: This opens the PRINTERS folder on the system.
NOTE – Before opening the folder, it might prompt to accept the admin permission window.
Step 12: Now clear this folder by selecting all the files present in the folder and deleting them.
Step 13: Once done, close the folder and other windows that are open and restart the system.
Fix 2 – Run the Printer Troubleshooter
If there are any software issues related to the printer, you can always try troubleshooting using the built-in troubleshooter that comes along with the Windows system. This starts troubleshooting the problems with the printer and tries to fix them.
Follow the steps below on how to run the printer troubleshooter on your system.
Step 1: Open the Run command box by pressing the Windows and R keys together on your keyboard.
Step 2: Then type control.exe /name Microsoft.Troubleshooting in the run box and press Enter key.
Step 3: This opens the Troubleshoot page on the system.
Step 4: Click the Other troubleshooters option from the list.
Step 5: Under the Most frequent section, you will find an option called Printer.
Step 6: Just click the printer option’s Run button.
Step 7: This launches the troubleshooter and starts detecting any printer problems and then tries to rectify them.
Step 8: Follow all the onscreen instructions and get the problems solved.
Step 9: Once done, you can close all the windows and pages open.
Fix 3 – Update the USB drivers and Printer drivers as well
If the driver software of the particular device is not updated, it throws such an error or creates unnecessary problems regarding that device. so it is always a good practice to keep the system, drivers, and software updated on a regular basis.
Let us see how this can be done using the steps below.
Step 1: Press the Windows and R keys together to open the Run box.
Step 2: Type devmgmt.msc in its textbox and press the Enter key.
Step 3: This opens the device manager window on the system.
Step 4: Locate the Universal Serial Bus Controllers from the list of devices and double-click on it for expanding.
Step 5: Then right-click on the USB device and click Update driver from the context menu.
Step 6: Select Search automatically for drivers on the Update window.
Step 7: This starts to search for the latest drivers for the device online and updates it.
Step 8: Once done, go to the Print queues option and expand it by double-clicking on it.
Step 9: Right-click on the Printer device from the list and click Update driver.
Step 10: Click Search automatically for drivers and wait till it starts updating the printer driver.
Step 11: When you are done, close the Device Manager window and restart the system.
Fix 4 – Change the Printer’s port
If the port settings of the Printer device are changed on the system, then it is merely impossible for the printer to print anything since the port is responsible to pass the signal to and from the printer. So we suggest our users check their Printer’s port on the Windows system using the steps explained below.
Step 1: Press the Windows and I keys together on the keyboard to open the Settings app on the system.
Step 2: Then go to the Bluetooth & devices option on the left side of the Settings app window.
Step 3: Select the Printers & scanners option on the Bluetooth & devices page as shown in the below image.
Step 4: Click the Printer device from the list of printers and scanners on the Windows system.
Step 5: On the Printer device’s page, click the Printer properties option.
Step 6: In the Printer’s Properties window, go to the Ports tab and select the appropriate port if it has got changed earlier.
Step 7 : Add a standard TCP/IP port, name it with the printer IP address and set the printer to use that port.
Fix 5 – Check the Paper tray and ink cartridge of the Printer
If there are no papers left in the paper tray or the ink cartridge gets empty, it throws such errors because it is impossible to print without paper or ink. So please ensure there are enough papers and ink left in the cartridge.
Fix 6 – Physical damage to the Printer or its cable wire
You can once check if the Printer has got any physical damage and if the cable wire which connects the printer and the Windows system, is broken. Alternatively, you can verify this by connecting the printer to another Windows system and if it throws any error, you might have to get a new printer or replace a cable wire if it is damaged.
Fix 7 – Reinstall the Printer driver on your system
When nothing works out, you can try uninstalling the printer driver completely from the system. After uninstalling, try reinstalling the printer driver back on the system and try to give the print command to check if it works.
Step 1: Press the Windows key on the keyboard and type device manager.
Step 2: Select the Device Manager app from the search results as shown in the below screenshot.
Step 3: Once the Device Manager window opens, search for the Print queues option and expand it by double-clicking on it.
Step 4: Under the Print queues section, select your printer from the list and right-click on it.
Step 5: Select the Uninstall device from the context menu.
Step 6: Click Uninstall on the confirmation dialog box as shown in the below image.
Step 7: Once it is successfully uninstalled, you can close the Device Manager window.
NOTE – If you do not find your printer driver in Device Manager, you can check it on the Installed Apps page and uninstall it from there.
Step 8: Now restart the system and then you need to reinstall the printer driver by visiting your printer manufacturer’s website and downloading the printer driver.
Step 9: After it is downloaded, you can start installing it on the system by launching the downloaded file and following the onscreen instructions.
Step 10: When the printer driver is installed, try giving the print command and see if this works.