Printer issues tend to happen at the most wrong time that users can imagine. You may see the “Offline” memo when you need to print the annual report. Dull pages can screw up a big presentation, and paper jams can tear important documents within seconds. 

If you want to find out what to do when the printer not printing correctly, it would be better to ask experts for help. They can give you easy step-by-step directions to fix those problems within minutes. That’s why we asked Howly experts about the five most common printer issues and how to fix them. Here is what they told us.

The Printer Is Offline

It’s a memo you may see when the printer can’t connect to any device on your network. Try those measures to solve the error printing message issue:

  1. Check your router. Make sure that it’s on. Restart it: plug it off the socket, and wait for 30-40 seconds. Plug it back and press the Power button. 
  2. Check the connection status on your devices. If you pair the PC and printer with a cable, make sure that it’s installed on both sides. Check Bluetooth and Wi-Fi settings.
  3. Try print from another device. Maybe your computer has some system glitches. Restart the PC to remove temporary bugs.
  4. Remove and reinstall the printer’s software, drivers, and apps from all your devices.

Slow Printing Speed

It’s one of the most infamous problems with wireless printers. In most cases, you are facing a router issue. Try these steps to fix it:

  1. Restart the router. It can be minor software glitches that cause this malfunction.
  2. Place the router near the printer. It should be less than 40-50 feet from it.
  3. Sometimes, your connection may be impacted by the amount of traffic in your network. Disconnect other devices from this router, and stop all downloads on the PC.

A Blank Sheet Appears Every Time You Want to Print Something

The primary reason for this issue is outdated or corrupted printer software. First of all, update or reinstall printer drivers. It should fix the problem. Follow this instruction:

  1. Open Device Manager. You have two ways how to do it. Right-click on the Windows logo or press Win + X combo to open the Windows menu and find a Device Manager.
  2. Go to the Printer queues and find your current printer. Right-click on it and select Uninstall device.
  3. Restart the PC and connect the printer to it.

Your computer will automatically find the fresh available drivers and install them within 5-10 minutes.

If you found this problem in your office printer, check its settings. Maybe one of your colleagues turned on “Separator Pages” in the menu, so it would be easier to identify the owner of various printouts. Stick to this guide to turn it off:

  1. Open the Control Panel. The easiest way is to type “Control” on the taskbar near the Windows logo and select Control Panel in the menu. You can also open the Run app with Win + R combo, type control, and confirm by clicking OK.
  2. Look for the Devices and Printers in the menu. Click on it to unroll the list of devices.
  3. Find the printer that you are using right now. Right-click on it and choose Printer Properties.
  4. Select Advanced → Print directly to the printer → Apply → OK.

Try to print any document. This short instruction removes separator pages from the queue.

Clogged Cartridges and Print Head 

Check the print head, it can be clogged. It’s a common hardware problem both with ink and laser printers. The ink starts drying when the user leaves the device unused for more than 4-5 weeks. It leads to clogged cartridges.

Most modern printers have an app where you can find a utility tool with a name similar to “Clean clogged cartridges”. It would have light and heavy clean options. They will push the ink under different pressure until it breaks the clog. If you can’t find this tool, you may try to print a test sheet at least 2-3 times.

Laser printer owners should check the toner. In most cases, the printer won’t print because it lacks toner. Change the cartridge, don’t try to fill in the counterfeit toner. All cartridges have a special chip, indicating the level of genuine toner inside.

Try the next hack if you can’t change the cartridge but need to print the document as soon as possible. Carefully remove the printer cartridge and gradually tip it from side to side. It helps redistribute the leftovers more smoothly, so you can print a few documents even with this amount of toner.

Paper Jam and Ghost Paper Jam.

There are a few reasons for a paper jam. Maybe the paper isn’t properly aligned, so it starts to crumble. Carefully remove it from the tray and insert new sheets. They should be perfectly smooth, without bumps or skews.

Try to put fewer sheets on a tray. Usually, they are limited to 70-100 sheets, but sometimes capacity could be even lower. Try to put 10-20 papers on a tray, adding sheets along the way.

Make sure that you are using the proper type of paper. Maybe you have bought thick or big sheets. You can find suitable paper parameters in the printer’s manual.

Ghost paper jam is another infamous problem when you ask yourself, “Why is my printer not printing?”: you see the paper jam report, but the sheets are perfectly aligned. The most common reason for it is the tiny shards of paper that are stuck between the rollers. Examine the printer to check it:

  1. Find a printer’s manual and look for instructions on how to open the device.
  2. Check the print rollers. Maybe you’ll see the piece of paper or another material stuck there.
  3. If you have a chance, carefully roll the paper rollers to examine them more deeply. If you see a third-party thing in it, try to remove it.
  4. Close the printer and restart the device. Print any document.

Final Thoughts

When you see that your printer refuses to work, your first reaction may be asking on forums, “Why is my HP printer not printing?” or something similar, and it's a pretty natural response to those issues. But you can save time if you stick to the custom expert guidelines.

If the printer sends “Offline” errors, fix the network connection and reinstall the drivers. Slow printing speed is usually caused by network issues, which you can fix within 3-5 minutes. When you see a blank sheet every time you try to print, it can be due to driver issues or separator page settings. 

The clogged head primarily causes dull documents in ink printers. Change the cartridge if you see a light document from the laser printer. When you witness a paper jam, carefully align 10-20 sheets of paper with suitable parameters. It would be easier to refill the tray once in a while than level sheets every few minutes.