4 Printer Problems We Can All Relate To

The printer plays a crucial role in any office. But when it acts up, it can hamper your workplace’s productivity.

Common printer problems and solutions

Printer Problem #1: Paper Jams

Paper jams can be the bane of our workplace existence.

If you’ve ever waited for your documents to be printed only to hear a monstrous crunch that came from your printer, you probably encountered a paper jam.

Paper jams could be caused by the type of paper you use. Usually, papers that weigh less than 80 gsm stick together while printing and that causes paper build up in your printer and hence the paper jam .

If you’re unsure of what’s the right A4 paper for your printing needs? Read our previous post on how to choose the right paper for your office!

Printer Problem #2: The Offline Printer

We’re sure you’ve encountered Printer Problem #2 on numerous occasions where you were ready to print a document only to be halted by a message that says “your printer is offline”.

But when you look over at your office printer the power button clearly shows it’s on and you would probably think what sort of sorcery is going on. Well, the solution to this printer comes with three easy fixes:

3 ways to fix the ‘offline printer’ problem

Easy fix #1: Disconnect and reconnect to the Wifi

Often times, your printer is not at fault rather your internet connection is and this applies to wireless printers which most offices have.

Try to disconnect your from your WiFi connection and reconnect again. Open the document you were trying to print and your printer will be online again!

Easy fix #2: Connect to the right printer

Does your office have more than one printer? Be sure to connect to the right one!

You can easily identify your office’s printer model on the printer itself, no tech guy required! If you’re not connected to the right printer, go to “Settings” on your computer and click on “Add a printer or scanner” and identify the correct printer model to add on.

Easy fix #3: Update your driver

Do occasionally check if your printer driver needs to be updated. You can easily look up for the driver for your printer by googling the model’s name followed by the word “driver”.

Once you found the correct driver for your printer, just follow the installation directions and voila, you have an updated printer driver.

Printer Problem #3: Where is my document?

We’re sure you have encountered the term “spooling” when you check the print status of a document.

Spooling in printing lingo basically means your documents are loading into a buffer and the printer takes its time to get them from the buffer.

The way around spooling may not be in your favour when it comes to rushed print jobs because spooling is absolutely normal, especially in offices where you have multiple colleagues wanting to print.

So when you see the “spooling” status you either wait it out or cancel your print job and try again after 10 minutes.