Mac Printer Not Working? Here's the Fix

You hit Print, the spinner turns, and… nothing. Or the job sits in the queue forever. Or your printer has gone “offline” for the third time this week even though it’s plugged in and showing a happy green light.

Printers and Macs have a complicated relationship. Apple stopped including most third-party drivers in macOS years ago, and AirPrint covers most of what people need but leaves edge cases. Here’s how to work through it.

Confirm the printer is actually online

Walk to the printer. Is it on? Showing any errors? Out of paper or ink?

Most “printer not working” issues are physical:

• Out of paper or paper jam
• Out of ink/toner (some printers refuse to print even in black if a color cartridge is empty)
• Lid open or cartridge door not seated properly
• Printer in standby and slow to wake — try printing a test page from the printer’s own menu first

Printers often display warnings on their LCD that don’t propagate back to the Mac. Check the panel directly.

Verify network connection

For Wi-Fi printers, confirm the printer’s actually on your network. From the printer’s menu, look for a “Network Info” or “Print Network Configuration” option. It should show:

• Connected to your Wi-Fi network name
• A valid IP address (something like 192.168.x.x or 10.x.x.x)
• Signal strength of decent quality

If the IP address is 0.0.0.0 or the network name is wrong, the printer’s not actually connected. Re-run setup from the printer’s panel.

A common gotcha: if your home Wi-Fi has separate 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz networks with different names, your printer might be on 2.4 GHz while your Mac defaults to 5 GHz. Most printers are 2.4 GHz only — your Mac just needs to be able to reach the printer’s network, but if your router has client isolation enabled, devices on different bands can’t see each other.

Reset the printing system

This is the nuclear option that fixes 80% of stubborn printer issues. It removes all printers, all drivers, and all queue state, then lets you re-add fresh.

1. Open System Settings → Printers & Scanners
2. Right-click (or Control-click) anywhere in the printer list
3. Choose Reset printing system…
4. Confirm and enter your password

After the reset, your printer list will be empty. Re-add the printer:

1. Click the + button (or “Add Printer, Scanner, or Fax”)
2. Wait for nearby printers to appear
3. Select yours
4. macOS will offer a driver — pick AirPrint if available, otherwise the manufacturer’s driver

Reset stale device prefsSweep wipes outdated Bluetooth and USB caches that can cause pairing oddities. Get Sweep free →

Use AirPrint when possible

AirPrint drivers are baked into macOS and don’t require manufacturer downloads. They support:

• Standard print jobs
• Duplex/two-sided
• Multi-tray selection on most printers
• Color management

When you add a printer, macOS shows the available drivers. If “AirPrint” or “Secure AirPrint” appears, use it. The manufacturer driver is sometimes more feature-rich (specifically for stuff like watermarks, booklet printing, or specialty paper handling), but the AirPrint driver is more reliable for basic printing.

If your printer doesn’t support AirPrint, you’ll need the manufacturer’s driver. Get it from the manufacturer’s website, not third-party download sites — those often bundle adware.

Clear stuck print jobs

A jammed queue can prevent any new jobs from going through, even after you fix whatever caused the original jam.

1. System Settings → Printers & Scanners
2. Click your printer
3. Click Open Print Queue… or Printer Queue
4. Cancel any stuck jobs (X or right-click → Delete)
5. If individual deletion isn’t working, click the gear icon and choose “Reset Printer”

For a more aggressive cleanup, open Terminal and run:

cancel -a

That clears every print job from every printer system-wide.

Reinstall or update drivers

For non-AirPrint printers, an out-of-date driver can break after a macOS update. Symptoms include:

• Printer worked fine, then stopped after a system update
• Color output is wrong (everything magenta-tinted, etc.)
• Specific paper sizes missing
• Duplex won’t engage

Get the latest driver from the manufacturer’s website. Match it to your exact macOS version. Apple Silicon Macs need Apple Silicon-native drivers — Rosetta-only drivers will work but cause weird quirks.

After installing:

1. Reset the printing system
2. Re-add the printer
3. Pick the new driver explicitly when prompted

Restart the print spooler

Sometimes the macOS print system itself gets stuck. A restart of the relevant daemon can fix it without touching anything else:

sudo cupsd -t
sudo launchctl unload /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/org.cups.cupsd.plist
sudo launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/org.cups.cupsd.plist

That validates and restarts the CUPS daemon (which is what handles print jobs on macOS under the hood). If you’ve never thought about CUPS, that’s fine — you don’t need to. Just know that the commands above kick it back into a clean state.

Diagnose with the CUPS web interface

CUPS has a hidden web interface at http://localhost:631 you can access in any browser. To enable it:

cupsctl WebInterface=yes

Then visit http://localhost:631 and look at:

• Printers tab to see queue status, paused state, and any error messages
• Jobs tab for currently processing or completed jobs
• Logs for detailed error messages that the GUI hides

This is often the fastest way to find out why a job’s failing — the GUI shows “Stopped” but CUPS logs may say something specific like “Authentication required” or “Filter failed.”

Skip the manual huntSweep clears the leftover device prefs and caches macOS keeps around. Download Sweep free →

Test connectivity directly

If your printer claims it’s online but the Mac can’t reach it, ping it from Terminal:

ping 192.168.1.X

(Replace with your printer’s IP address.)

• Good response = printer is reachable; the issue is print-protocol-level
• No response = network issue; check that both devices are on the same subnet and that your router doesn’t have AP isolation enabled

You can also test if AirPrint specifically is responding:

dns-sd -B _ipp._tcp local.

That command browses for AirPrint-capable printers on your local network. If yours doesn’t appear, mDNS (Bonjour) isn’t reaching the printer — typically a router multicast issue.

For USB-connected printers

USB printer issues mostly come down to:

• Bad cable (try a different one)
• Wrong driver
• USB hub interference (plug the printer directly into the Mac)
• Power issues with bus-powered tiny printers

Check System Information → USB to confirm the Mac sees the printer at all. If it’s listed, the connection works and the issue is software-side. If it’s not listed, the cable, port, or printer USB hardware has failed.

Apple’s M-series Macs are picky about which USB devices share controllers — a printer plugged into a hub with a busy SSD may stop responding under load.

When it’s the printer itself

Printers fail. They’re mechanical devices with consumable parts and exposed paper paths. Common failure modes:

• Print head clogged (most common on inkjets sitting unused for weeks)
• Roller worn out (paper jams every time)
• Internal sensor reporting “Out of paper” when paper’s there
• Firmware bug fixed in an update you haven’t installed

For inkjets, run the printer’s built-in head cleaning cycle (in the printer’s menu, not from the Mac). Two or three cycles often unclog a head that’s been idle.

For all printers, install the latest firmware from the manufacturer. Many printer issues are firmware bugs that have been patched.

There’s a faster waySweep does the cleanup in seconds. Try Sweep free →

Quick checklist

When the printer goes wonky, work in this order:

1. Walk to the printer and check for physical issues
2. Confirm network connection from the printer’s panel
3. Reset printing system in System Settings → Printers & Scanners
4. Re-add the printer using AirPrint if available
5. Update firmware if it’s been a while
6. Check CUPS at http://localhost:631 for specific error messages
7. Reinstall manufacturer drivers as a last resort

For a printer that’s worked reliably for years and just stopped, it’s almost always either a stuck queue or a network change. The reset-and-re-add procedure catches both.