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Guide · Printer problems

Printer won’t print from your Mac? How to fix offline, paused and stuck printers

By the AI Repair team · Updated

When nothing comes out of the printer, it’s tempting to reinstall everything. Usually the fix is much simpler: the printer is asleep or out of paper, it has lost the network, or macOS has paused it after a hiccup and is waiting for you to click Resume. Work through these steps in order, gentlest first.

In short

Check the printer itself first: on, awake, with paper and ink, and no error on its screen. Then open its print queue (System Settings › Printers & Scanners, select the printer, click Printer Queue) and click Resume if it’s paused; delete any job that’s stuck. If it says Offline, make sure the printer and your Mac are on the same Wi-Fi network, then restart the router, the printer and the Mac. Only if that fails, remove the printer and add it again.

1. Check the printer itself

Many “Mac problems” start at the printer. Look at its screen or lights for an error, and check that it has paper, that its ink or toner isn’t empty, and that nothing is jammed. If it was off or asleep, switch it on and give it a minute or two to rejoin the network before you print again.

The print queue shows the printer’s status and every job waiting for it:

  • macOS Sonoma or later: choose Apple menu › System Settings › Printers & Scanners (you may need to scroll), select the printer, then click Printer Queue. Every queue lives in one app, Print Center, which also opens by itself when you print.
  • macOS Ventura: the same, but the button may say Print Queue or Open Print Queue.
  • macOS Monterey: System Preferences › Printers & Scanners, select the printer, then Open Print Queue.

The printer’s status is shown in words, such as Idle, Paused, Offline, Out of paper or Paper jam. While it’s printing, its icon appears in the Dock; a pause symbol on the icon means the printer is paused.

3. Resume a paused printer

This is the most common reason a Mac stops printing. Apple says a printer can be paused by a problem with the printer, a lost connection or another person. The catch is that it stays paused after the problem is fixed, and your documents wait in the queue until someone resumes it (Apple’s guide).

In the print queue, select the printer and click Resume. Waiting jobs then print in order. If you print to a paused printer, macOS may ask whether to continue: choose Resume to start printing, not Add to Printer, which only adds your document to the waiting list.

4. Clear stuck print jobs

One job that can’t print, often a very large file or one sent while the printer was off, can block every job behind it. In the print queue, select the stuck job and click Delete Job (Remove Job on macOS 27); to keep it for later, click Hold Job (Pause Job on macOS 27) instead. Then print one page again to test. Deleting a job can’t be undone, so you may need to print that document again.

5. If the printer says Offline

“Offline” means your Mac can’t reach the printer, usually because the two aren’t on the same network any more.

  1. Check the network. Your Mac and the printer must be on the same Wi-Fi network. Watch out for a guest network, a Wi-Fi extender with its own name, or a new router the printer hasn’t joined yet. The printer’s screen or its maker’s app shows which network it’s on.
  2. Turn off a VPN while you print. Some keep your Mac from seeing devices at home.
  3. Restart in order: the router first, then the printer once the internet is back (give it a minute or two), then your Mac.
  4. If you added the printer by its IP address, that address may have changed. Remove the printer and add it again from the list of nearby printers (step 7).

6. Make sure you’re printing to the right printer

After a router change or an update, macOS sometimes adds the same printer twice, such as “HP LaserJet” and “HP LaserJet (2)”, and only one of them works. In the print dialog, check which printer is selected. To find out whether the problem is one app or every app, try printing a short note from TextEdit, as Apple suggests.

7. Remove the printer and add it again

This clears a printer setup that has gone wrong, without touching the rest of your Mac.

  • macOS Ventura or later: in Printers & Scanners, Control-click the printer and choose Remove Printer. Then click Add Printer, Scanner, or Fax, select your printer in the list and click Add.
  • macOS Monterey: select the printer, click the remove button (–) and confirm, then click the add button (+).

Most printers made in the last decade support AirPrint, which needs no driver at all: when you add the printer, choose AirPrint if you’re offered the choice. If yours can’t use AirPrint, get the latest software from the maker’s website. If your printer isn’t listed, click the IP tab and type the address shown on the printer’s network settings page.

If it says “Hold for Authentication”

The printer, usually a shared one at work or school, wants a name and password, and the one your Mac saved isn’t being accepted. In the print queue, click the job’s resume button and enter the name and password for that printer. If it keeps asking, open Keychain Access (search for it with ⌘ Space), find the entry with the printer’s name, delete just that one entry, and print again.

If it says “Expired Certificate”

Many network printers create a security certificate for themselves, and recent versions of macOS refuse one that has expired. The fix happens on the printer:

  1. Check that the printer’s date and time are right, and update its firmware with the maker’s app.
  2. In Printers & Scanners, select the printer, click Options & Supplies, then Show Printer Web Page. Look in its network or security settings for a way to create a new certificate. Where it is depends on the model.
  3. Remove the printer and add it again, and keep macOS up to date.

Last resort: reset the printing system

Resetting the printing system deletes every printer, scanner and fax from your Mac, along with their waiting jobs and saved print settings. You then add your printer again, as in step 7. Apple keeps it as a last resort, so try everything above first. In Printers & Scanners, Control-click anywhere in the list of printers and choose Reset Printing System (Apple’s guide).

Your printer maker’s app

Printer makers have free apps, such as HP’s HP: Print and Support (formerly HP Smart) and Brother’s iPrint&Scan, and Epson and Canon offer their own. Use them to connect the printer to Wi-Fi, update its firmware, check ink and scan. Get them from the Mac App Store or the maker’s own website. If the app can’t find your printer on macOS Sequoia or later, check System Settings › Privacy & Security › Local Network and make sure the app is allowed there.

Be careful with search results that show a “printer support” phone number. Some of these pages aren’t run by the printer maker and are after your money or your computer. Use the support pages on the maker’s own website instead.

Advice you can skip

  • Deleting printer folders by hand in your Library or the system’s. Apple’s clean start is the reset above, and only as a last resort.
  • Installing the old driver from the printer’s CD. AirPrint needs no driver, and the maker’s website has newer software than the CD.
  • Turning off the Mac’s firewall. It only blocks connections that other devices start, and printing starts from your Mac.
  • Deleting a whole keychain to fix a password prompt. Delete only the printer’s entry.
  • Choosing “Always Trust” for a printer’s expired certificate, or going back to an older macOS. Fix the certificate on the printer instead.

Common questions

Why does my Mac say the printer is paused?

macOS pauses a printer when printing fails, for example after a paper jam or a lost connection, and keeps your jobs waiting in the queue until you resume it. It stays paused after the problem is fixed. Open the print queue and click Resume.

Why does my printer say Offline when it’s switched on?

Your Mac can’t reach it over the network. Usually the printer or the Mac has joined a different Wi-Fi network, or the printer is still waking up. Check both are on the same network, then restart the router, the printer and your Mac, in that order.

Do I need to install a driver for my printer on a Mac?

Usually not. Printers that support AirPrint work without any driver. You only need the maker’s software for a printer that can’t use AirPrint, or for extras like scanning and ink levels.

Why won’t my printer work after a macOS update?

Often the maker’s printer software hasn’t caught up with the new macOS. Update it from the maker’s website, or remove the printer and add it again using AirPrint, which needs no extra software. Software made for older Intel Macs runs through Rosetta, and Apple says that support ends for most apps after macOS 27.

How do I print a test page on a Mac?

On macOS Sonoma or later, open Print Center, select the printer, then choose Printer › Print Test Page from the menu bar. On earlier versions, open the printer’s queue window and use the same menu.