It can be infuriating when you want to print out an email and your printer just doesn’t print! You check whether there’s paper in the tray, if it’s turned on, you may even check the printer window to see if it gives you any clue.
I have many people call me each month asking me to come over, so I can help get their printer up and running again.
So, I thought I would put together some trouble-shooting tips to help get you back on track.
Firstly check to see if the USB cable or Ethernet cable is still connected to the back of the printer and computer. If one of the cables is disconnected reconnect it and reboot your computer.
If it is a Wi-Fi Printer, check to see that your computer is connected to your Wi-Fi, and that your printer is also connected to your Wi-Fi.
Many people have these mobile broadband modems that may disconnect the Wi-Fi when they go to sleep, to save battery life. But this doesn’t help when every time you go to print, you need to reconnect the printer to your computer. You may need to change your modem settings to keep the Wi-Fi connection on even when the modem switches into sleep mode.
If the printer cable is connected and the Wi-Fi is also connected, but the printer still isn’t printing then you will need to open the Devices and Printers control panel on your computer by clicking the Start button , on your computer and then, on the Start menu, clicking Devices and Printers.
This will open a window where all your devices and printers are connected. If your printer has lost it’s connection it will be greyed out like the below.
The easiest thing to do is right mouse click on the greyed out printer and press delete in the menu.
Then once it is deleted, at the top of the same window you will find the Add Printer button, click on this button and it will guide you through connecting your printer once again. Another suggestion is to go online and find the printer manufacturer website and download the latest driver for your printer. A driver is a small piece of software that allows your computer to communicate with your printer and other devices, and if your driver has corrupted then reinstalling the latest driver will resolve this issue.
These brief tips will help resolve 70% of all printer connection issues and get you back to printing. If you do all of these and you are still having issues. It may be time to call a technician to troubleshoot further.