Why is my printer not printing?

The short answer

Your printer isn’t printing because of a connection problem, an empty ink or toner cartridge, a stuck print queue, or an incorrect printer selection.

Common causes

Here are the most likely reasons your printer refuses to print:

  • It’s not connected properly — A loose USB cable, a dropped Wi-Fi connection, or being on a different network than your computer can all silently stop printing.
  • The print queue is stuck — If a previous print job failed or got stuck, it blocks everything behind it. Nothing else will print until you clear it.
  • Ink or toner is empty — Most printers will stop printing entirely when a cartridge is empty, even if you’re only printing in black and white.
  • The wrong printer is selected — Your computer might be sending the job to a different printer, like “Microsoft Print to PDF” or an old printer you no longer use.
  • The printer is offline — Your printer might show as “offline” in your computer’s settings, even though it’s powered on.
  • Paper jam or empty tray — A small piece of stuck paper or an empty tray will prevent printing without always showing a clear error.

How to fix it

Try these steps in order:

  1. Check the basics — Make sure the printer is powered on, has paper loaded, and the USB cable or Wi-Fi connection is solid.
  2. Clear the print queue — On Windows, go to Settings > Devices > Printers, open your printer’s queue, and cancel all pending jobs. On Mac, go to System Settings > Printers & Scanners, open the queue, and clear it.
  3. Set the correct printer as default — Make sure your actual printer is selected as the default in your system settings.
  4. Restart everything — Turn off the printer, wait 30 seconds, turn it back on, then restart your computer. This fixes more issues than you’d expect.
  5. Check ink and paper — Open the printer cover and make sure no cartridges are empty and no paper is jammed inside.
  6. Reinstall the printer — If nothing else works, remove the printer from your computer and add it again. This resets the driver and connection.

When should you worry?

If you’ve tried all the steps above and your printer still won’t respond, the issue might be a hardware failure like a dead print head or a broken internal component. Check if your printer shows any error codes on its display and look them up in the manual. If the printer is several years old and repair costs are high, replacing it may be the better option.