HP printers are world-class equipment for printing, scanning, and faxing. Many people prefer to use printers of this brand because of its cost-effective and quality printing solutions. It has many amazing features that make your printing job easy and smooth. However, this does not mean that you cannot face technical problems while printing required documents, images, or other files. Sometimes the HP printer may not respond when you give the print command in Windows or macOS. It would be completely useless to be disappointed in such a situation, just try to find some effective solution to fix it with Hp Printer Support. Luckily, you are on the right page as there are many different troubleshooting methods described here. Let’s read it!
Read: How To Reset HP Printer After Refilling Ink?
Why Is My HP Printer not Responding?
While printing, the computer thinks that your printer is offline, so the printer is not responding error occurs. In addition, a bad cable connection or paper jam is also a possible reason why your printer is not working or responding. Additionally, missing or corrupted Hp printer drivers can also cause your printer to stop responding.
Cause of HP Printer Not Responding Issue
Many realistic factors are responsible for not responding to printer error problems. Some of them are listed below. Order once:
- Defective USB cable.
- Loose cable connection.
- A Printer is not tightly connected to the system.
- Inappropriate or incomplete installation of the printer software.
- The printer driver installed on the PC might be missing which may further lead to My Printer Not Responding.
- The driver might be corrupt or damaged.
- Insufficient papers are most probably loaded in the printer tray.
- The ink cartridge is out of stock.
The Solution to Fix HP Printer not Responding
We have described genuine and effective repair methods to get rid of HP Printer Not Responding error. Apply the following solution methods one by one until the problem is not rooted out. Let’s start:
Solution 1: Check Printer Connection
Whenever you see the HP printer won’t print an error message, you should check and verify the printer connection immediately. Sometimes such a problem occurs due to connectivity problems. Here’s what you have to do:
- First, turn off your PC, and also turn off your HP printer and other external components that are connected to it.
- Now unplug all cables and wait for about 2-3 minutes.
- Connect all cables properly now and restart your computer.
- Wait until your printer is idle and silent.
- You can also test your printer by connecting it to another system.
- Check all cables used to connect devices. Make sure the cables are connected properly.
- If so, the printer is connecting via a USB port, try connecting it to another USB port.
If the HP printer is still not responding, continue to the next solution.
Solution 2: Restart the Print Spooler Service
To print without interruption, Windows relies on the Print Spooler service. But some issues with this service can also trigger a printer not responding error. And, restarting the spooler service will probably fix the printer problems and everything will start working again. So, to do so follow the points given below:
- Also, press Windows Key + R to invoke the Run command.
- Type “services.msc” in the search field.
- Now press “Enter” or press the “OK” button.
- After that, the Services window opens.
- Find the “Print Spooler” option from the given list and then double-click on this tab.
- Now open the “Properties” window by clicking on it.
- Next, set the Startup type to “Automatic” and select the “Start” button to start the service.
- If the service is not working well, click on the “Stop” button present under the System Status tab. And then click “OK”.
- Now wait a few minutes and then press the “Start” button again.
- Now restart your system to see if the printer is not responding error is resolved or not.
If the above solution does not work then use the following solution.
Solution 3: Make Sure the Printer is set-up Correctly
Here’s how to check it:
- First, open the Control Panel on your Windows desktop.
- Now go to the “Devices and Printers” section.
- Find your printer in the list of printers; Right click on it.
- Now select the “Printer Properties” tab.
- Go to the “Ports” tab.
- Make sure the correct port is selected.
- Now click “Apply” and “OK” to finally save the changes.
After doing all these basic settings, check if the printer is responding or not. If the same problem persists, then proceed to the next solution.
Solution 4: Reinstall the Printer Driver
When the printer is no longer responding, try reinstalling the printer driver. This way:
- To scale up the Run command, first press the “Windows + R” key on your keyboard.
- Now type “devmgmt.msc” in the Run box and press “Enter”.
- Expand the Printers category. Then select the printer you are using and right-click on it.
- Now select “Uninstall device”.
- Check the option “Remove driver software for this device”, then click “Uninstall” to confirm.
- Now the Printers category has been deprecated.
- Additionally, reinstall the latest version of the printer driver through the manufacturer’s site.
Once you have the updated version of the printer driver on your PC, your printer will start responding. But if unfortunately, it still doesn’t work, move on to the next solution.
Solution 5: Select Your Printer as the Default Printer
If your printer is not selected by default, then the HP Printer Not Responding error will definitely occur. So, check it first and make sure it is selected as the default. If not, follow the given steps:
- First, open the Cortana search box on your Windows system and enter the default printer in the search field.
- Now select “Change default printer” to open the window directly.
- Now, at the bottom left of this window, you can see the option “Let Windows manage my printers by default”. If this option is enabled, disable it by shuffling the button.
- Now, from the Control Panel, navigate to the “Devices and Printers” tab. And make sure a green tick is highlighted on your default printer. You can also right-click on the printer and select “Set as default printer”.
The problem of the HP printer not responding in Windows will now be over from the root. In the next section, we will see how to fix the same problem that appears on macOS. So, keep reading!
How to Fix Printer Not Responding on Mac
We’ll guide you through productive actions so that you can easily fix the printer not responding to Mac. To solve this just try the following step-by-step methods:
Solution 1: Reset the printer/network connection
- First, turn off your printer, wait at least a minute, and then turn it back on to resume operation.
- Print a test page to check if the HP printer on Mac is not responding. If not yet, continue to the next step:
- Go to the “Apple” menu.
- Select the “System Preferences” option from the given list. Doing so, a new window of the same name appears.
- In the “Hardware” section, click the “Print and Scan” tab.
- Now right-click anywhere on your printer window display and press the “Reset Printing System” tab.
- Now press the “Reset” button in the confirmation wizard.
- After that, an administrator prompt may appear on the screen.
- Next, you need to enter your administrator ID and password correctly.
- Then click the “OK” button of the wizard.
- Finally, press the “Reset” button.
After resetting the printer, the printer does not respond Mac error can be resolved. But if not yet, use the following troubleshooting guide.
Solution 2: Check USB Connection
Make sure that the USB cable is not damaged otherwise you may face the error Printer is not responding. Also, you need to make sure that it is properly connected to the port of the printer and Apple device. Always prefer a USB 2.0 cable when connecting a device. After connecting it, follow the steps below:
- Once the cable is properly connected, select the “System Preferences” option from the menu.
- Now, under the “Hardware” section, click on the “Print and Scan” option.
- Wait for the system to recognize the target printer.
- Now select your exact printer model and click on the “Add” button to successfully add your printer to the printer list.
- Finally, print a test page to see if your printer works properly.
I think you now have the answer to your question, about how to fix the Printer Not Responding in Windows or macOS.
Get HP Printer Support from our experts at 1-855-233-5515
If you still face an HP printer that is not responding even after doing the above-mentioned guidelines correctly, then contact us. We are knowledgeable people who work day and night with a dedication to bringing unparalleled HP Printer Support to your doorstep. So please call us 24/7 hotline number and get in touch with us. After following our advice, you are 100% sure that your printer will start working well.
