Why Is The Printer Status Showing An Error? Fix In 7 Easy Steps

Suppose you are using a printer for a long time and printing a whole lot of documents. Your printer may encounter a problem “Printer in Error State“. 

This problem can occur at any time, and if you regularly use a printer, you will be highly likely to encounter this issue once in your life. 

If your printer has got the “Printer Error State” problem, you must be trying to fix the issue by trying various solutions. 

The issue requires some information that you must acquire before trying to fix the error state. 

So below, we have provided some solutions which you can try to fix the printer error state, and your printer should work fine.

What Is The Printer Error State?

The Printer Error State occurs when your printer has faulty software or driver. Additionally, it can also occur due to a damaged hardware component. 

But this error can be fixed quickly by reinstalling the driver or by changing the faulty hardware component.

And if you don’t know much about technicalities, it is better to call your printer support care and ask them to fix the issue for you. 

However, if you have little knowledge of such issues and have seen these errors once or twice in life, you can easily fix them. 

Solutions: –

Check The Connection

The first solution you have to try is to ensure that your printer is properly connected to your device, whether it is a computer, laptop, or mobile phone. 

Additionally, if you use a third-party application or service to connect the printer to your device, ensure it is working perfectly fine. 

Most importantly, if your printer is connected to your printer with a USB cable, then ensure that the cable is properly connected. 

And there is no damage to the cable and the USB port of your computer.  

Above all this, you have to make sure that your computer properly recognizes your printer over the Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and USB connection. 

Here is how to confirm the PC is properly connected to the printer:

1. Press the Start button and search for Control Panel.
2. Go to the Control Panel option from the search results.
3. Then enter Hardware and Sound>>View devices and Printers.
4. On this page, you can see the connected printers list. Find your printer and select it.
5. At the bottom of the page, you should see the printer status as Ready. If you see Ready on the bottom page bar, it means the printer properly recognizes your printer, and you can print anything you want. 

Restart The Device

In many cases, many printer issues can only be resolved just by restarting the printer. 

Your printer gets stuck in some process due to which it couldn’t proceed properly, so these simple errors can be fixed just by restarting the printer. 

Turn off your printer and disconnect the USB cable from the computer. Remove the power plug and wait for 30 seconds. 

Now, restart your computer along with the printer. Connect the cable and check if it is working or not by giving a test print.

Check The Paper And Ink Level

A most common reason your printer is not printing anything is because of the insufficient ink level in the cartridge. 

You have to make sure that the ink cartridge has sufficient ink to print something. 

Additionally, make sure the printer tray has enough paper sheets to print out the files, documents, and photos. 

After loading the printer with ink and paper tray, if it is still not working, make a quick reboot, and it should work fine.

In some cases, the printer doesn’t work with refilled cartridges, so try using the printer with a new cartridge. 

If it works fine, turn it off and again replace the cartridge with an old one, as this can also fix the issue. 

Change Port Settings

Many printer brands like Brother, Epson, Canon, and HP want you to change the port settings if you see the “Printer Error State”. 

In some printers, it may also say, “The printing process is stopped or blocked due to a system error” or “Printer under Error State“. 

So, the first solution problem you can try is to change the port settings. 

Below, you can find the complete process on how to fix the “Printer Error State” problem:

1. Open the run dialogue box by pressing Windows + R key on your keyboard.
2. When the dialogue box pops up, type devmgmt.msc and hit enter. It will open the device manager. Optionally, you can search for device manager by clicking on the start button and then search for Device Manager. One more option you can try, right-click on the start button and then select the Device Manager option from the list. 
3. Click on the View option from the top menu bar and select the “Show hidden devices” option.
4. After that, you will see a Ports (COM & LPT) option in the list of drivers. 
5. Right-click on Ports (COM & LPT) and then choose properties.
6. Now, select the Port Settings tab from the properties window.
7. Choose “Use any interrupt assigned to the port” and make sure to check the box which is near “Enable legacy Plug and Play detection” and then click OK.
8. When all the steps are done, restart your computer and printer once.

Reinstall Or Update The Driver

If you have tried all the above-given steps and none of them worked for you, then the problem is highly likely to be in your printer’s software or drivers. 

So, it is advisable to reinstall the printer drivers. Here is how:

1. Uninstall the old printer driver by going into the control panel. Optionally, you can directly search for Device and Printers from the Start menu.
2. Open the first search result. On this page, you will see your printer.
3. Choose the printer and right-click on it, and then click on Remove device. Follow on-screen instructions and remove the device from your computer.
4. Your PC will ask you to reboot it. If it doesn’t ask you, make sure you restart your PC once.
5. Now, go back to Device and Printers, and see if your printer is there or not. If it is not there, connect the USB cable, and the printer’s name should appear in the list. Furthermore, you can check the printer status on the bottom page bar as Ready.

Change Print Spooler Service To Automatic

Sometimes, the print spooler service can cause the “Printer Error State” problem. To fix it, follow the steps:

1. Click on the start button and search for services. Optionally, you can press Windows + R key and open the run box, here type services.msc and hit enter. This will open the services tab. 
2. In the services tab, find Print Spooler service from the list of services. 
3. After that, right-click on the Print Spooler service and choose Properties from there.
4. In the General tab, you will see an option as Startup type, just set it as Automatic from the drop-down menu. Click on Apply, then OK.
5. You should get a prompt to reboot the computer, grant the permission, and your computer will reboot.

Windows Update

One of the possible reasons for this problem is the latest windows update. 

If you are running on the old windows version, then update the version to the latest one. 

Or, if you are using the latest version of windows, you need to downgrade it as well.

1. Open the start menu and search for Windows Update. Optionally, you can open Settings>>Update & Security>> Windows Update.
2. Click on Check for updates button, and your computer will scan for the latest windows version. If it is available, it will be installed automatically. After that, you can restart your computer and use your printer.

Note: If your windows are already on the latest version, you can downgrade it within 10 days of update. 

This is because the latest update may have some bugs due to which this problem is occurring.

1. On the windows update page and click on “View Update History“.
2. Select the latest windows to update that your computer recently received and click on uninstall.
3. The update will be uninstalled, and your computer will be restarted. This should fix the issue.

Contact Manufacturer

If you are still facing the “Printer Error State” problem, and none of the above-given steps worked for you, then you can try to contact your manufacturer, and they will fix the issue for you.