How to Fix Printer in Error State on Windows 10/11

Every time while trying to print a document or image, there is a message stating “Printer in Error State“? Due to this error, you can’t send any print jobs to your printer as it just won’t print anything? You are not alone, a number of users report being unable to print from Lenovo laptop to HP printer. Tried to reinstall the printer driver, restart the printer, check the wireless settings but still receive error message “Printer is Offline“, but the latest is “Printer is error state“.

Why is the printer in an error state?

System permission settings, corrupted drivers, or system conflicts are some common reasons behind this Error Printer in Error state. Again, this error may display when the printer is jammed, low in paper or ink, the cover is open, or the printer is not connected properly, etc. Here in this post, we have some tested solutions apply to fix printer problems on Windows 10 and get it working again.

Verify printer connection, Paper and Cartridge Ink Levels

• First of all, you need to make sure that all the cables and connections of the printer are fit and don’t have a loophole.
• Make sure your devices connect to each other properly, try with a Different USB port and the network (either wireless or Bluetooth) or cable you use for the connection has no problem.
• Also, Turn off the printer and check for paper jam then close all trays properly. If it has a paper jam slowly remove it. Also, ensure the Input tray should have sufficient paper.
• Check if the printer is low on ink, refill it if it is. If you are using a WiFi printer, turn on the WiFi of the printer and the modem router.
• Try to print a photocopy, the printer able to make a photocopy successfully than it’s driver or software issue.

Power reset the printer

• With the printer on, disconnect the power cable from the printer,
• Also, disconnect any other cables if connected the printer.
• Press and hold the printer power button for 15 seconds,
• Reconnect the power cable to the printer. Power it on if it doesn’t power on.

Tweak on Device manager

Let’s tweak the printer settings on the device manager and change System permission settings that help most users fix printer problems on Windows 10.

• Press Windows key + X and select device manager,
• This will display all installed device driver lists,
• Click on the View menu, and then select the “Show hidden devices” option from the drop-down menu.

• Next, select and right-click on Ports (COM & LPT) category, select the Properties option.

• Go to port settings and select the radio button,“Use any interrupt assigned to the port”
• Next, uncheck the option “Enable legacy Plug and Play detection” box.

• Click apply and ok to make save changes then restart your computer,
• Now check the printer should be detected and work properly.

Check the Print Spooler status

The print spooler manages the printing jobs sent from a computer to a printer or print server. If due to any reasons or system glitch print spooler stops running, you might unable to complete print jobs. And display different errors, including the printer is offline or HP printer in error state. Make sure the print spooler services is running and is in automatic mode

• Press the Windows key + R, type services.msc and click ok to open the Windows service console,
• Scroll down to locate print spooler options and ensure it is running.
• Then after double-clicking on the print spooler to open its properties,

• Here, make sure the services are started and set to Automatic.
• If not, then change the startup type to automatic and start the service next to the service status.
• Then move to the Recovery tab and change the first failure to “Restart the service“.
• Click apply and check the printer back online and it’s in working state.

Clear print spooler files

It’s another working solution to fix most printer problems, include HP printers in error state. Here we reset the print spooler service and clear the print spooler field that might be corrupted and cause the print job stuck or the Canon printer in error state.

To clear print spooler files first, we have to stop the print spooler service to do this

• Press the Windows key + R, type services.msc and click ok to open the Windows service console,
• locate the print spooler service, right-click on it select stop from the context menu.

• Now press Windows key + E to open File Explorer and navigate to C:\Windows\System32\Spool\Printers
• Delete all files inside the printer folder, to do this press Ctrl + A to select all then hit del button.

• Next, open the following path C:\Windows\System32\Spool\Drivers\w32x86 and delete all data inside the folder.
• Again go to the Windows service console, right-click on print spooler service select start from the context menu.

Remove and Reinstall your printer

Are still experiencing the same HP Printer in error state problem/ Printer is offline while taking printouts? There might be the installed printer driver is not compatible with the current Windows version or the printer driver is outdated, or corrupted. Let’s try to uninstall the current printer driver and download and install the latest printer driver from its manufacturer site.

• First, turn off the printer and disconnect your printer’s USB cable from your PC.
• Now open the device manager using devmgmt.msc
• Expand printers and scanners, then right-click on the installed printer driver and select uninstall the device.

• Click uninstall again when it prompts for confirmation, and make sure the Checkmark on delete the driver software for this device
• Once the printer drivers are uninstalled, restart your system.

Next, visit your printer manufacturer’s website and download the latest available driver for your printer model.

HP – https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/printers

Canon – https://ph.canon/en/support/category?range=5

Epson – https://global.epson.com/products_and_drivers/

Brother – https://support.brother.com/g/b/productsearch.aspx?c=us&lang=en&content=dl

Then install the printer driver, run the setup.exe and follow on-screen instructions to install the printer.

Set as default printer

Again make sure you select your printer in default mode.

• Open the control panel, and go to the device and printers,
• This will display all installed printer list, right-click on your printer, select the option of “Set as Default Printer” from the list.
• A Green check mark will appear on your printer icon, signaling that your printer is set as default.

In addition, Make sure the printer status is not offline, to check and correct this

Right-click on your default printer and uncheck the option “use printer offline”.

Check for Windows Updates

There might be a recent bug hitting the print job on Windows 10. Microsoft regularly rolls out Windows updates to fix recent bugs reported by users. Let’s check for and install the latest Windows update that may have bug fix for this error HP printer in error state.

• Press the Windows key + X and select settings,
• Go to Update & security then hit the check for Updates button,
• This will check for available Windows updates and download and install automatically,
• Once done, it will ask you to restart your computer to apply them let’s do it,
• Now check if the error is gone

Contact the Manufacturer

If the above efforts fail to work then you should contact the Device manufacturer for support. They provide chat service and Customer care numbers to help you with problems like this.