HP Printer Not Printing? 10 Fixes to Try First

Your HP printer is powered on, connected, and still refuses to print. HP printers have a few quirks of their own — the HP Smart app, duplicate printer entries, and an offline mode that switches itself on — so generic fixes do not always solve it. These are the fixes that work for HP models, in the order worth trying them.

1. Run HP’s own diagnostic tool first

HP offers a free tool called HP Print and Scan Doctor (for Windows) on its official support site. Download it from hp.com only, run it, and select your printer. It automatically checks the queue, the spooler, the driver, and the connection, and fixes several common faults on its own. On Mac and mobile, the HP Smart app has a similar Diagnose & Fix option in the printer settings.

2. Check the printer’s own screen and ink

Look at the control panel. A message about ink, paper, or a door not closed will stop every job, and the computer often shows nothing more than “Error”. Replace genuinely empty cartridges, reseat any cartridge the printer complains about, and clear any paper jam — including small torn pieces left inside, which are easy to miss.

3. Remove duplicate HP printer entries

Windows frequently lists the same HP printer two or three times — for example “HP OfficeJet Pro” and “HP OfficeJet Pro (Copy 1)” or a version ending in a network address. Jobs sent to the wrong copy go nowhere. In Settings → Bluetooth & devices → Printers & scanners, keep one working entry, set it as default, and remove the duplicates.

4. Clear the queue and restart the Print Spooler

Open the print queue for your HP printer and cancel all documents. If a job is stuck and will not delete, press Windows + R, type services.msc, right-click Print Spooler → Restart, then try printing again. A general walkthrough of queue problems is in our main guide: Printer Not Printing? How to Fix It.

5. Check it has not switched to Offline mode

HP printers are known for dropping into “Offline” after a router restart or a brief Wi-Fi drop. If the status says Offline, follow the dedicated steps here: HP Printer Offline? 8 Fixes to Bring It Back Online.

6. Restart the printer properly (power drain)

With the printer switched on, unplug the power cord from the back of the printer and from the wall. Wait at least 60 seconds. Plug it straight into a wall socket (not a power strip), turn it on, and wait until it is fully ready before sending a job. This full power drain clears errors that a simple on/off does not.

7. Reconnect the Wi-Fi

If you print over Wi-Fi, reconnect the printer to your network from its control panel: Settings → Network Setup → Wireless Setup Wizard, then select your network and enter the password. Make sure the computer is on the same network — a PC on a “guest” network or a different band can fail to find the printer.

8. Reinstall the HP driver and HP Smart

Remove the printer from Windows, uninstall the old HP software, restart the PC, then reinstall fresh: either download the full driver for your exact model from HP’s support site, or add the printer through the HP Smart app, which installs the correct driver automatically. Avoid driver-download sites other than hp.com — they are a common source of bundled junk software.

9. Print a test page from the printer panel

On the printer itself, go to Settings → Reports → Printer Status Report (the exact path varies by model). If the report prints, the printer hardware is fine and the issue is on the computer side — repeat steps 3–8. If even the report will not print, the problem is ink, printhead, or hardware.

10. Reset the printer to factory defaults (last resort)

If nothing works, a factory reset can clear deep configuration errors: Settings → Printer Maintenance → Restore → Restore Factory Defaults. Be aware this erases your Wi-Fi setup, so you will need to reconnect the printer to your network afterwards, as in step 7.

The short version

Run HP Print and Scan Doctor → check ink and the printer screen → delete duplicate printer entries → clear the queue and restart the spooler → rule out Offline mode → full power drain → reconnect Wi-Fi → reinstall the driver via HP Smart or hp.com → test from the panel. That sequence resolves most HP printing failures without a repair bill.