Your Office Printers Have Feelings, Too (This is Not a Joke)

Rare is a machine that can simultaneously make your life extremely convenient, and make you want to scream. We've all been there: standing in front of the printer, begging it to work right (“just this once” is often added for dramatic effect).

Yet the printer won't print. Or the paper will jam. Or the ink runs out. Here are some of our favorite "creative" ways we've seen people try and solve their printer problems (to no avail). So, we’ve included some more effective solutions for you try next time you run into issues like these.

Press Print…Again

You’re ready to print - you've triple-checked your document and decided its ready for production. So, you press the print button on your computer, walk over to the machine and wait. When you get to the printer, you realize it hasn’t printed. Naturally, you decide the solution is to press print again – so you head back to your computer and press print again. (This is kind of like realizing a light in your house is burnt out, and trying to fix it by flicking the light switch a second time.)

Instead of relying on the print button to solve your problem, check to see if the menu on the printer is telling you what the problem is. Often times printed projects can get stuck in a queue, causing a delay in the production of your project, or the device itself isn’t able to produce because of lack of supplies or paper jams. All of these solutions will be visible on the printer’s menu.

If all else fails, try the general solution to almost every electronic problem: turn it off and back on again.

A Swift Kick Should Put Things in Order

So your printer is not printing properly? We’ve all tried giving the device a swift kick before – and if you haven’t tried it, you’ve definitely thought about it. Unfortunately, unlike a vending machine that won’t give you your treat, when you hit a printer, it doesn't start working again.

Instead, try clearing the print cue and resubmitting the document. Most printers have a giant 'X' or ‘Cancel’ button you can press to do this.

Name Calling

Success! Your printer is finally starting to print a document. It sucks the paper inside, and then you hear the dreaded sound of paper crunching inside the printer. You, my friend, have yourself a paper jam. It's at this point that most will go through their regular list of vulgar names they reserve just for their printer(s) – stupid, worthless piece of junk being one of the most gentle!

Rather, simply start by removing the paper jam from the machine by following the instructions. If the problem persists, you may need to check the paper alignment inside the paper tray. If these don’t solve the problem, schedule maintenance for your machine and let the expert fix the issue.

Push the Button Harder

You're standing at one of your office printers now, ready to make a copy or scan your document. But when you press the button to “go” – it does nothing. Of course, the most logical solution is to press the button harder, right? Now, I don’t think that this has ever worked, not even once in the history of printers, but many continually attempt it.  

So what's the actual problem? The interactive menu on multifunction printers can sometimes “go on the blink.” The first solution you should try is to turn off the machine and allow the screen time to reset. If this doesn’t work, call your provider and leave this to the experts.

End the War Against Office Printers

When it comes to office printers, remember that they're on your side. The efficiencies and time savings they provide are well worth the occasional frustrations they may cause.

Here are a few additional articles that present easy solutions for these printing disturbances:

• 6 Common Copy Machine Problems and the Path to Resolution
• 5 Printing Solutions for Common Business Printer Problems
• Quick Fixes for Poor Quality Printing Results
• Why Won’t My Printer Print? 7 Potential Issues and How to Fix Them
• Employees Frustrated to the Point of Destruction with Office Printers?

So show your printer a little love and try a little respect next time you have a problem. To stay on top of other print-related ideas, and for other resources, subscribe to our blog.