Printers have become a crucial device for every business person and home user. You need a printer to get hard copies of crucial documents. At home, a printer is very useful to print out notes, project papers, etc. In inkjet printers, you can also take printouts of photographs of good quality. New printer models are multifunctional and you can use them for scanning a document or sending a fax. These printers can be easily configured with any device. At home or office, you can easily connect the printer to the shared network. After connection, you can add the printer from all the devices on that network. These printers are robust however you can still face some problems while using the printer. One common error faced by lots of users is the printer not responding. When you send a print command, the printer stops responding. This error can occur due to software or hardware issues on the printer. 

Common reasons behind printer not responding error

1. The printer is not connected
2. Some printer files are not working
3. Printer services get stuck
4. Paper jam
5. Your printer is unable to find the required driver
6. Printer settings are invalid
7. The printer is connected to another network
8. The firewall is interrupting the printer connection
9. Your print command gets corrupted

Resolving printer not responding error

Restart the printer device

When The printer is not responding Mac then you should try to restart it. The printer can show errors when its services are not working. These services can get into runtime errors. You have to restart the printer to run those services. Go to the printer and turn it On. Now remove the power cable and wait for about 5 seconds. Reconnect the cable to the printer and now all its services will start from the beginning. Now reconnect the printer to your computer and take the printouts.

You can run a printer troubleshooter

If you have connected the printer to a PC, you can try running a printer troubleshooter. The error appears when some printer files are not working. Go to your printer and click Update and Security. Now click on the troubleshooter option. Select the Printer option and run the troubleshooter. This tool will start searching for all printer files. If any file is corrupted; this utility tool will repair it. This troubleshooter tool will take some time to repair the files. You will see a wizard on the screen. If it shows a fixed status, the printer will start working. But when the troubleshooter is unable to fix the error, click on the Read More option. It will show the cause of your printer error.

Reconnect the printer to your system

Reconnecting the printer can also help in fixing the error. Go to the printer and check for the connection. If you are using a cable for printer connection. Eject it from both devices. Now check the cable for any kinks or damage. Try connecting another device with the cable. In case the cable is faulty, get a new cable for your printer. Only use a high-speed cable on the printer device. When the printer is wirelessly connected; check the Wi-Fi connectivity on both devices. For the printer network connection; inspect the router. Restart the router and then press the printer’s Wi-Fi button. Check its screen for network SSIDs. Select the correct SSID and then hit the OK button. After reconnecting the printer; check for the responding error.

Check the driver on the system

Driver issues can lead to the printer responding error. Your printer will only listen to your PC’s printer command when it has a driver. Without the correct driver, your PC can’t send the print job. This driver or software is like a communication bridge between the printer and PC. On the printer, open the drivers’ folder and then search for your printer driver. If you don’t have a driver then open the browser and go to the printer’s website. Download the related driver on the computer and then install it correctly. Restart the computer and now send a print job. Your printer will search for the required driver. Once it finds the driver, the printer will start responding to your commands. If your printer driver is outdated then you should update it. Install the latest update of your printer driver. But when the driver is corrupted then you should reinstall it and then use the printer.

Reset the printer to factory settings

If you have changed some printer settings and now the printer is not responding then revert those changes. But most of the users forget the initial settings. Instead of changing those settings, you can try the reset option. Lots of printers have a reset button. Check the rear side of your printer for the reset button. If you have the reset button; press it and your printer will reset to factory settings in a few settings. In case, the printer doesn’t have a physical reset button; check the printer settings. Go to the menu and hit the Reset option. Click on Reset All option and tap on the confirm button. After resetting the printer device to factory settings, you have to reconfigure the printer to PC. 

Disable the firewall temporarily

Sometimes the printer responding error can occur due to the firewall. This error mainly appears when the printer is connected to the network. If the network is secured with a firewall; it will inspect all the incoming traffic. When your printer sends the connection request; the firewall may decline it. It occurs when the firewall mistakenly suspects the request as malicious. If you are using a personal computer then you can add it as a trusted device. After adding it, the firewall won’t inspect it. You can also disable the firewall temporarily. Go to the firewall settings and disable it for some time. Now the printer can directly connect to the network. After the printer connection, it will start responding and taking printouts.

Check your print command

Your printer won’t respond if you are sending an invalid printing request. This issue appears when you have malware on the system. Viruses can corrupt your print command and then the printer can’t read it. You should run a full system scan on the device. After removing the malware, you can easily take printouts. Also, check whether the document/file is printable or not. If the file is secured then you may need permission from the admin to take its printout. Ensure that the file is saved with the correct format or extension.