Printers, like any other equipment installed in a computer system, may not always work correctly, while the printer gives a print error, a message about which may not always be clear to the average user (for example, if it contains only a failure code without any information regarding the description of the problem). Even worse, when there seems to be no obvious glitches, but printing still does not start. Let's try to figure out what could be the reason for this and what actions can be taken to eliminate the most common errors and failures.
The printer writes: “Print error. Failed to print the document. " What is the reason?
In general, quite conventionally typical errors of absolutely all known printer models can be divided into software and physical failures. The first type is most often associated with incorrect installation of drivers and related software, improper configuration of connected devices, disabling printers in the operating system settings, overloading the print queue, etc.
Failures of the physical plan most often occur due to improper connection of the device and the choice of port, in case of equipment breakdowns, after replacing the cartridges or refilling them independently (including due to contamination with toner or ink). In addition, it is impossible to exclude a certain human factor, when the user simply forgot to close some lid, press a certain button or did not notice the absence of paper. Most experts agree that problems of a program nature are considered more common, therefore, in the recommendations below to eliminate all kinds of failures, we will mainly focus on them.
Printer print error: what to do first?
So, now let's proceed to the immediate troubleshooting. First, consider a situation known to many when even the operating system does not explicitly indicate a printer error, but for some reason printing does not go. The reason for this is the overflow of the print queue. Most often, this can be observed with network printers, when several users simultaneously specify documents for printing, and the device simply cannot cope with their processing, or at one of the stages a failure occurs on another computer.
As a rule, cleaning the queue does not help. In this situation, the only and optimal solution will be to restart the printer itself, as well as all computers from which printing was specified. Many probably noticed that after such actions printing is resumed.
Resolving physical issues
Now a few words about physical problems. Suppose you get a print error message, "The printer could not print the document." In this case, you should immediately check the correct connection of the device to the computer, as well as pay attention to the selected port or connector, including testing the status of the cables used for connection.
If a printer error occurs due to self-refilling of the toner cartridge, make sure that it is not contaminated (the powder should not spill out). For inkjet printers, it is advisable to use special microprograms after refueling with ink, but in both cases, before setting your own documents for printing, you should print a test page (on many devices there is a special button located directly on the panel). Sometimes you need to press extra buttons to bring the printer to a ready state after refueling. In general, it is not recommended to refuel it yourself without special knowledge. It is better to entrust this matter to specialists from the service center or technical service.
Checking printer settings, driver availability, and additional software
The most voluminous in content are program failures, so they should be the focus of all users separately. If the printer print error is issued for no apparent reason, and it does not indicate what exactly the problem is, for a start you should check the status of the device itself.
To do this, call the device section from printers from the “Control Panel”, make sure that the selected device is checked with a green marker (used by default), through RMB, go to the properties section and make sure that the offline item is not activated.
If battery life is enabled, disable this option, restart the computer and the printing device, and then repeat the job of printing documents.
A printing error with an HP or any other manufacturer's printer can often be due to the absence or incorrect installation of the device drivers. To check their status, use the standard "Device Manager". Find your printer in the list and make sure that it does not have a yellow triangle with an exclamation mark. If it is, reinstall or update the drivers. For updates, it’s best to use automated programs like Driver Booster.
If this does not help, completely remove the device from the system, and then install the control and missing software from the original disk (and not from the Windows database).
When connecting multiple printers to the same computer, it is often possible to observe that in the “Device Manager” they are marked with a red cross, which indicates a driver conflict. The way out of this situation is to temporarily disable one of the devices, change the default printer, or reinstall the drivers for each of them.
Among other things, please note that many modern printers use their own software in the process. If it is damaged, accidentally removed or improperly installed (even if the system has a correctly installed driver), the devices may not work. Remove the original control program (for a complete removal it is better to use utilities like iObit Uninstaller), and then reinstall the application.
Fix access errors for network printers
Quite often, there are problems with network printers. They are usually associated exclusively with incorrect settings for the network identification paths of the devices themselves.
When setting the necessary parameters, pay special attention to the correct input of the printer’s network address, its location, network name and port used. In addition, sometimes you need to specify the source for installing the drivers.
Print Manager Service Errors
Finally, one of the most annoying printer printing errors can be called the "Print Manager" problem, which for some reason can be turned off.
To check its status, go to the services section (services.msc), find the specified component there, click the service start button, if it is disabled, and set the start type to automatic.
For accuracy, use the programs and components section, go to the option to enable or disable Windows components and make sure that the component responsible for printing is turned on (there must be a checkmark on it and on all related items).
Additional tips
If you use virtual devices along with iron printers, in the same section of the system components include all the necessary services, such as printing to PDF or XPS support. It is possible that these components can somehow be connected with their “iron” counterparts. Finally, you should not exclude the possibility of a virus infection of a computer system, so it is strongly recommended that you perform a full scan of it to neutralize or remove threats that might be found.