Printer Not Printing on Windows 11

Category: Windows 11 · Audience: Customers & Technicians · Est. time: 10–25 min

Summary

When a printer shows offline, jobs get stuck, or nothing comes out, the cause is almost always the print queue, connection, or driver. Work top to bottom.

Symptoms

• Printer shows Offline or Paused
• Documents sit in the queue and never print
• "Printer error" or nothing happens at all

Solution

1. Check the basics. Printer powered on, no error lights, paper loaded, ink/toner present, and cables connected. For Wi‑Fi printers, confirm it's on the same network as the PC.
2. Clear the print queue. Settings → Bluetooth & devices → Printers & scanners → select the printer → Open print queue → cancel all stuck jobs.
3. Take it off "Offline"/"Paused". In the print queue window, open the Printer menu and untick Use Printer Offline and Pause Printing.
4. Set as default. In Printers & scanners, open the printer and choose Set as default. (Turn off *"Let Windows manage my default printer"* if the wrong one keeps being selected.)
5. Restart the Print Spooler (Technician). Search Services → Print Spooler → right‑click → Restart. Or in Terminal (Admin):

net stop spooler
net start spooler

1. Run the printer troubleshooter. Settings → System → Troubleshoot → Other troubleshooters → Printer → Run.
2. Reinstall the printer. Remove it in Printers & scanners → Remove, then Add device to re‑detect it. Install the latest driver from the manufacturer's website if prompted.

If that doesn't work

• Print a test page from the printer's own control panel to confirm the hardware is OK.
• Try the printer from a different PC or phone to isolate whether it's the printer or the computer.
• For network printers, confirm the printer's IP address hasn't changed (a common cause after a router reboot).
• Escalate to BBN Support with the printer make/model and whether other users can print.

Prevention

• Give network printers a static/reserved IP so they don't go offline after a router restart.