Common Solutions for Printer Issues

Printers are kinda like the insurance of the tech world, forgotten and unneeded until they absolutely are vital. From college students to office workers most everyone has suffered the frustration of a printer not doing what you want. Here is a handy list of common problems and solutions for them.

Nothing Happens

Always be sure that the printer is plugged in and on, loose cables are more common than you think. Also check the printer itself for any error indicators, usually a blinking or red light. 

Frequently the issue with a printer is that the one you want to print from is not the one selected. Sometimes the issue is a "virtual" printer is installed unknowingly by some software and has set itself to the default. When this happens you are saving the file whenever you hit print instead of sending it to the printer

Solution - Check the default printer. Open Control Panel from the Start menu. Select Devices and Printers and right click on the desired printer and select it as the default. Then ensure that the default printer you just selected is correctly identified from the program from a list of available options.

Web Pages Won't Print Properly

Usually, web pages are designed without any thought to printing, which is the source of the problem. The dimensions of a web page can be hard to detect by a printer leading to all kinds of wacky interpretations. Or, perhaps some on screen feature just refuses to print, like your plane ticket as you are about to head to the airport.

Solution - Print Preview is your friend. This will most likely display what you will be printing and will give you a very good idea of what will come out of the printer. Many web pages with printable content have a print button built on the page; select this option from the print menu in the browser.

The Snipping Tool is your friend if all else fails. Open Snipping Tool from the Start search menu and crop the element you want to print. Then from File select Print and finally you can be sure you will have exactly what you want.

Slow Wi-Fi Printing

So you have a wireless printer, great. It is your default and the printer is on and working and yet it takes an agonizing amount of time to print. 

Solution - Make sure your printer is close to the router as this will ensure a stronger signal and decrease the printing time. Check that your router is adequate - you will want support for the 802.11n standard and ideally have a 2.4 GHz and a 5GHz band. If the printer has current firmware and is technologically up to spec then consider a wireless repeater to boost the signal and the performance if you cannot move it closer to the router.

Restart the Print Spooler Service

The Print Spooler is the Windows service that manages the print jobs and print queues on your printer. When this service breaks you are unable to print. 

Solution - Restart the Print Spooler. Hit the Windows key + R to open the Run dialog box and type the command: services.msc

Hit Enter to open the Microsoft Services window. Scroll down to Printer Spooler, right click on it and select Restart.

Verify that the problem is resolved.

Terrible Looking Prints

Your printer is operating, but the printed product is streaky or smudged. These artifacts look horrendous regardless of the quality of the content being printed. On inkjet printers, tiny little blockages can occur as the ink dries in the print-head nozzles

Solutions - Check the printer to be sure that you are printing with the correct type of stock. A photo printed on standard paper when the machine is expecting photo paper will deliver a terrible looking product.

Run self-cleaning routines from the manufacturers print control panel. Inkjet nozzles, in particular, are prone to clogging if they have not used in a substantial amount of time. You can also buy cleaning cartridges that you install into the printer that will get rid of those streaks and fades if the self-cleaning routine doesn't fix the issue.

If the issue is smudge marks, print some blank sheets and watch the smudge marks fade away. Once you think the prints are looking good, run a test print just to ensure that everything really is copasetic.

If these common solutions have not fixed your printer issues or if you have a technical problem of another kind please reach out to our friendly technicians at PC TEC RESCUERS who are available 24/7 to assist you with any problem you might be having.