Overview #
If your printer suddenly stops responding, gets stuck on “Printing,” or disappears from your list of devices, the issue is rarely the printer itself.
Most “printer not responding” errors come from spooler service failures, corrupt drivers, or stuck print jobs.
This guide walks you through diagnosing and fixing printer connectivity and driver issues — both on Windows and macOS.
What you’ll learn
- How to restart or repair the print spooler service
- How to clear stuck print queues
- How to reinstall drivers and reconnect printers
- How to test printing functionality at the system level
Estimated time: 15–30 minutes
Skill level: Beginner–Intermediate
Terms and Definitions #
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Print Spooler | Background service that manages print jobs in Windows |
| Queue | List of pending print jobs waiting to be sent to the printer |
| Driver | Software that allows the operating system to communicate with your printer |
| Network Printer | Printer shared over Wi-Fi or Ethernet rather than directly connected |
| CUPS (Common UNIX Printing System) | macOS print management framework equivalent to Windows’ spooler |
Steps #
Step 1 — Verify Printer Power and Connection #
- Make sure the printer is turned on and shows no error lights or paper jams.
- For USB printers: unplug and reconnect to a different USB port.
- For network printers: confirm it’s connected to the same Wi-Fi or LAN as your computer.
Windows PowerShell
Get-Printer
This lists all installed printers. If yours doesn’t appear, proceed to reinstall steps later.
macOS Terminal
lpstat -p
If it says “Unable to connect to printer”, continue to the next step.
Step 2 — Restart the Print Spooler Service #
Windows
Stop-Service -Name Spooler -Force
Start-Service -Name Spooler
Then check status:
Get-Service Spooler
You should see Status: Running.
If restarting doesn’t work, clear the print queue (next step).
macOS
sudo launchctl stop org.cups.cupsd
sudo launchctl start org.cups.cupsd
This restarts the CUPS print management service.
Step 3 — Clear Stuck Print Jobs #
Windows
Stop-Service Spooler -Force
Remove-Item -Path "$env:SystemRoot\System32\spool\PRINTERS\*" -Recurse -Force
Start-Service Spooler
This wipes corrupted or incomplete jobs from the queue.
macOS
cancel -a
This cancels all active print jobs.
You can also manually reset the queue from System Settings → Printers & Scanners → select your printer → Open Print Queue → X to delete jobs.
Step 4 — Check Communication and Permissions #
Windows
Test-Printer -Name "YourPrinterName"
If this returns an error, try reinstalling the printer.
Also, make sure your user account has permission to manage printers:
Get-Printer -Name "YourPrinterName" | Select-Object -ExpandProperty PermissionSDDL
macOS
List connected printers:
lpstat -v
You should see something like device for Printer_Name: usb://Canon/...
If the URI is missing, macOS no longer sees the printer — reinstall it.
Step 5 — Reinstall or Update Printer Drivers #
Windows
Remove-Printer -Name "YourPrinterName"
pnputil /enum-drivers | findstr "Print"
Identify old drivers, then remove them:
pnputil /delete-driver oem12.inf /uninstall /force
Reinstall your printer via:
Add-Printer -ConnectionName "\\YourPrinterNetworkPath"
Or through Settings → Bluetooth & Devices → Printers & Scanners.
macOS
sudo lpadmin -x "YourPrinterName"
Then reinstall using:
sudo lpadmin -p "YourPrinterName" -E -v usb://YourPrinterPath -m everywhere
You can also re-add via System Settings → Printers & Scanners → Add Printer.
Step 6 — Check Print Spooler Dependencies #
Windows
sc qc spooler
Ensure dependencies like RPCSS (Remote Procedure Call) are running:
Get-Service RPCSS
If they’re stopped, start them:
Start-Service RPCSS
macOS
Restart the core print system:
sudo pkill -HUP cupsd
Step 7 — Test Print Functionality #
Windows
Start-Process notepad
Type a test line → File → Print → select your printer.
If it works, your spooler and drivers are fixed.
macOS
echo "Printer test successful" | lp
If the printer outputs a page, everything’s working again.
Step 8 — Optional: Reset the Entire Printing System (macOS Only) #
If nothing else works:
- Open System Settings → Printers & Scanners.
- Right-click in the printer list → Reset printing system…
- Re-add your printer manually afterward.
Verification #
| Check | Command | Expected Result |
|---|---|---|
| Service | Get-Service Spooler / launchctl list | Running |
| Queue | Remove-Item PRINTERS\* / cancel -a | Empty |
| Driver | pnputil / lpstat | Installed |
| Test print | Test-Printer / `echo “Printer test successful” | lp` |
Conclusion #
If your printer isn’t responding, don’t assume it’s a hardware failure. In most cases, it’s a stuck spooler, corrupted driver, or blocked queue.
Restarting the print services, clearing queued jobs, and reinstalling drivers restores normal operation in nearly every case.
Keep drivers up to date and restart your printer and computer regularly to prevent future connection issues.
