It is easy to become frustrated when an office printer fails to fulfill its single function. Additionally, productivity will suffer and you will lose valuable company time if the malfunctioning equipment is a multifunction printer (MFP) that doubles as your scanner and copier.
It’s enough to make you want to fling your printer against the wall or raise your hands in surrender. However, with a little do-it-yourself printer knowledge, many problems can be resolved.
We’ve put together a list of the top 10 printer issues and solutions to assist you get back up and running as quickly as possible.
- Printer is unresponsive
- Printer won’t print
- Bad print quality
- Uncertain about printer security
- My printer won’t scan
1. Printer is Unresponsive
Think about the best practices that our Managed Print specialists adhere to before delving too deeply into particular typical printer issues and fixes. Always examine the fundamentals before attempting to resolve typical printer issues:
- Is the printer on?
- Does it have paper?
- Are all necessary cables connected?
- Are all wireless connections working properly?
- Have you checked the printer ink or toner cartridges?
2. Printer Won’t Print
Do you feel as though your print job is stalled or are you seeing error warnings on the control panel? Even if restarting your printer by pressing the power button is the simplest approach, it’s crucial to confirm that you have chosen the right print settings—ideally before sending a dozen copies of your document to another device.
You might receive a warning about a problem even before you visit the printer if your printer driver is capable of two-way communication, but there won’t be anything on the print tray. Fortunately, these alerts will frequently identify the issue and suggest solutions. If nothing else works, shut down your printer, give it a few minutes, and then restart both the software and the printer.
3. Bad Print Quality
Although it might not seem like much, the paper you use to print on can have a big impact on the quality of your final product. In general, picture paper from the manufacturer of your printer will work better than generic paper. What’s even more crucial, though? Make sure the printer’s settings match the document you’re printing.
This entails selecting the right print quality settings for your printed pages in addition to making sure the right kind of paper is used. Are you printing a copy of an email to save or are you printing pictures for a presentation? Plain paper settings and draft quality won’t work if you’re printing high-quality photographs on glossy paper.
4. Uncertain About Printer Security
To prevent unwanted access, the majority of printer makers pre-install security safeguards. A hacker might, however, use your printer as a back door to access your network if specific precautions aren’t taken. Changing your printer’s default password and making sure the most recent security updates are loaded are the two most important things you can do to avoid this.
Ask your Managed Print Service (MPS) provider or so manager to set up your security settings if you don’t know how to do so. They’ll make sure your security settings are up to date and that you have a digital lockbox. To guard against possible internal risks, they can even configure private printing modes.
5. My Printer Won’t Scan Anymore
Corrupted scanner software is frequently the bad guy when an MFP stops scanning. Reinstalling the printing software will allow your printer to scan again. If that doesn’t work, check the troubleshooting part of the user manual or visit the manufacturer’s website to identify the model of your printer. There can be a hardware problem that requires replacement or repair.