To stop your printer from pausing, you typically need to adjust its settings within your computer's printer queue or properties. This often involves unchecking options like "Pause Printing" or ensuring the printer is not set to "Use Printer Offline."
Printers can sometimes pause jobs due to various reasons, including being manually paused, going offline, or encountering errors. Resolving this usually requires accessing the printer's settings on your operating system.
Here are the steps to check and unpause your printer, based on common procedures:
Checking Your Printer's Status
Your printer's current status (e.g., printing, paused, offline, error) is usually managed through your computer's operating system, specifically within the printer queue or the list of installed devices.
Steps to Unpause Your Printer
You can often resolve a paused printer issue directly from the print queue window. Follow these steps:
- Open the Devices and Printers window on your computer. You can usually find this by searching for "Devices and Printers" in the Windows search bar or accessing it via the Control Panel.
- In the Devices and Printers window, right-click or tap and hold on your specific printer's icon.
- From the context menu that appears, select See what's printing. This action opens the printer's print queue window.
- In the print queue window, look for the menu bar at the top. Click or tap on the Printer tab.
- Within the Printer tab's dropdown menu, you will see several options.
- First, untick the option labeled Use Printer Offline. If this option is checked, your computer thinks the printer is disconnected, which can cause it to pause jobs.
- Next, check if the option Pause Printing is ticked. If it is, untick it from the menu.
By ensuring that both "Use Printer Offline" and "Pause Printing" are unticked, you should allow your printer to resume processing print jobs.
Potential Reasons Your Printer Pauses
While the above steps address the setting itself, understanding why it might be paused can be helpful:
- Manual Pause: Someone might have accidentally or intentionally selected "Pause Printing".
- Offline Mode: The printer might lose its connection (network cable, Wi-Fi, USB) or the computer might temporarily lose communication, causing the system to mark it as offline.
- Error State: Sometimes, a printer pauses jobs when it encounters an error (e.g., paper jam, low ink, hardware issue). Clearing the error on the printer itself is necessary before unpausing the queue.
- System Glitch: Occasionally, software conflicts or temporary system issues can cause the print spooler (the Windows service managing print jobs) to pause unexpectedly. Restarting the print spooler service can sometimes help, but unpausing directly is the first step.
If unchecking these options doesn't immediately resume printing, ensure the printer itself is powered on, connected correctly, and free of any physical errors (like paper jams). You might also need to restart the printer and your computer.
