Printer in Error State — Fix It Now on Windows 10 & 11 (2026)

“Printer in error state” means Windows has lost clean communication with your printer — the connection broke, a print job corrupted the queue, or the driver stopped responding correctly. It affects all major brands including HP, Brother, Canon, and Epson, and it almost always has a software cause rather than a hardware fault. Most cases are fixed in under 10 minutes.

What Does “Printer in Error State” Actually Mean?

It means Windows sent a print job and got no valid response back from the printer. The printer itself might be perfectly fine — lights on, paper loaded, ink full — but something between the print queue, the driver, and the printer’s communication port has broken down.

The error doesn’t tell you what broke, which is why it’s so frustrating. It’s a catch-all status message. But after fixing hundreds of these cases remotely, I can tell you that the vast majority come from one of four things: a stuck print job that’s corrupted the spooler, a driver that’s gone bad after a Windows update, a port misconfiguration, or the printer being locked in offline mode without the user realising.

The good news is that all four are fixable. And you don’t need to reinstall Windows or buy a new printer.

How to Fix “Printer in Error State” on Windows 10 & 11

Work through these steps in order. Most people are fixed by Step 2 or Step 3. I’ve structured this from the fastest fixes to the more involved ones so you’re not spending 20 minutes on something that takes 30 seconds.

Step 1 — Check for Physical Issues First (60 seconds)

Before touching any settings, walk to the printer and check five things:

• Paper — is the tray loaded and not jammed?
• Ink or toner — is any cartridge empty or unseated?
• Cover — is any door or cover fully closed?
• Power — is the printer fully powered on, not in sleep mode?
• Cable or WiFi — if USB, is it firmly seated at both ends? If wireless, is the WiFi light solid?

I’ve seen cases where a slightly ajar paper door was triggering an error state for two weeks. The user had tried reinstalling the driver three times. It was the door. Check the obvious things first.

Step 2 — Disable “Use Printer Offline” Mode

Windows can silently enable an “offline” mode that surfaces as an error state. This is the single most overlooked cause.

On Windows 11:

1. Go to Settings → Bluetooth & devices → Printers & scanners.
2. Select your printer and click Open print queue.
3. In the queue window, click Printer in the top menu.
4. If Use Printer Offline has a checkmark — click it to remove it.
5. Also uncheck Pause Printing if it’s ticked.

On Windows 10:

1. Go to Settings → Devices → Printers & scanners.
2. Select your printer → Open queue.
3. Click Printer in the menu and uncheck Use Printer Offline.

Try printing. If that fixed it, great. If the error comes back after a restart, continue to Step 3.

Step 3 — Clear the Print Queue and Restart the Print Spooler

A corrupted print job is one of the most common causes of a stuck error state. It sits in the queue blocking everything, and simply cancelling it from the print window often doesn’t work — you need to clear it manually.

1. Press Windows + R, type services.msc, hit Enter.
2. Scroll to Print Spooler, right-click → Stop.
3. Open File Explorer. Navigate to: C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS
4. Delete all files inside that folder. Don’t delete the folder itself — just its contents.
5. Back in Services, right-click Print Spooler → Start.
6. Try printing again.

This clears the corrupted job and restarts the spooler with a clean slate. It’s the fix that works when Step 2 doesn’t.

Step 4 — Run the Windows Printer Troubleshooter

Worth running after the manual steps above, not before — the troubleshooter often misses things that the manual spooler clear catches.

On Windows 11:

1. Open the Get Help app from the Start menu.
2. Search for Fix printer or go directly to aka.ms/PrinterConnection.
3. Follow the automated diagnostic prompts.

On Windows 10:

1. Go to Settings → Update & Security → Troubleshoot → Additional troubleshooters.
2. Select Printer → Run the troubleshooter.

If you have an HP printer, HP’s own Print and Scan Doctor tool often catches things the Windows troubleshooter misses. It’s free from HP’s support site and takes about two minutes to run.

Step 5 — Power Cycle the Printer (Properly)

A restart — not just the power button — can clear a stuck internal error state that no PC-side setting can reach.

1. Turn off the printer using its power button.
2. Unplug it from the wall — not just the USB cable, the actual power cable.
3. Wait a full 60 seconds.
4. Plug back in and power on.

If you’re using a power strip or surge protector, try plugging directly into a wall outlet for this test. A flaky surge protector can cause intermittent communication failures that look exactly like an error state.

Step 6 — Reinstall the Printer Driver

If the steps above haven’t worked, the driver is likely corrupted. This happens regularly after major Windows updates — the update installs a generic driver that conflicts with the manufacturer’s one, or partially overwrites it.

1. Press Windows + I → Bluetooth & devices → Printers & scanners.
2. Select your printer → Remove device.
3. Go to your manufacturer’s website and download the latest full driver:
   • HP: support.hp.com/drivers
   • Brother: support.brother.com
   • Canon: usa.canon.com/support
   • Epson: epson.com/support
4. Run the installer. When asked for connection type, choose your actual connection — WiFi or USB.
5. After installation, run a test print.

Don’t use Windows Update to find the driver. Since January 2026, Microsoft stopped distributing many manufacturer printer drivers through Windows Update, so the driver it installs is often the generic IPP version — which works but can trigger error state conflicts with some printer models.

Step 7 — Check and Reconfigure the Printer Port

This one is less common but important — especially if your printer is on a network and the error state appears even after reinstalling the driver.

1. Press Windows + R, type control printers, hit Enter.
2. Right-click your printer → Printer properties.
3. Click the Ports tab.
4. Check which port is selected. If it’s a WSD port (starts with “WSD-“), that can cause intermittent error states on network printers.
5. If the IP address of your printer has changed, the WSD port will be pointing to the wrong address. Switch to a Standard TCP/IP Port using the printer’s current IP address.

To find the printer’s IP: print a network configuration page from the printer’s control panel, or check the HP Smart / Brother iPrint app.

Brand-Specific “Printer in Error State” Notes

Not all error states behave identically across brands. Here’s what I’ve seen regularly:

HP printers: The error state on HP printers is frequently caused by the SNMP protocol being enabled in printer properties while the printer doesn’t support it, or the HP Smart app losing sync with the printer after a firmware update. If Steps 1–6 haven’t worked, open Printer Properties → Ports tab → Configure Port, and uncheck SNMP Status Enabled.

Brother printers: Brother’s error state is most commonly triggered by a corrupted drum or toner chip reading. If the printer itself shows an error light, check whether a toner or drum replacement is being flagged — even a newly installed cartridge can trigger this if it’s not seated fully.

Canon printers: Canon PIXMA and TR series printers often enter error state when the print head has a temporary fault. Running the print head cleaning cycle from the printer’s own control panel (not via software) often clears it.

Epson printers: Epson’s error state frequently accompanies the “ink pads are saturated” warning on EcoTank and WorkForce models. If you see a flashing combination of lights on the printer itself, check Epson’s printer light pattern guide for your specific model — the error state on screen may be triggered by a hardware warning from the printer.

How to Fix “Printer in Error State” on Mac

The error state on Mac presents differently — macOS doesn’t use the same print spooler as Windows, and the fix path is distinct.

1. Click Apple menu → System Settings → Printers & Scanners.
2. Right-click anywhere in the printer list → Reset printing system. Confirm when prompted. This removes all printers — don’t worry, you’ll re-add yours.
3. Click the + button to add your printer back.
4. If the printer doesn’t appear, it may have lost its WiFi connection. Use the Wireless Setup Wizard on the printer’s control panel to reconnect to your network first.

For persistent error states on Mac after an OS update, download the driver directly from the manufacturer’s site rather than relying on the version macOS installs automatically.

Quick Comparison: Which Fix to Try First