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Print job never prints on HP LaserJet printers [troubleshooting guide]

If you click "Print" to approve a print job but the printer just sits silently at "Ready" with no error codes, noises, or messages, then you have a communications problem between your printer and the sending PC.  Essentially your print job never actually reached the printer; if it had actually communicated with the printer, then you would see an error code rather than "Ready." This article will discuss possible solutions for this problem.

If your printer does nothing when you click "Print"...

1.  If your print job isn't reaching the printer, one of the first things we recommend doing is check the cables.  If the data cable came unplugged on either end (printer, or PC/network port), replug it. 

2.  Click File--> Print again, and check your driver to see if perhaps you accidentally selected the wrong printer from your drop-down list of printers.

3. Delete the print job from the print queue, reboot the computer and the printer, and try printing the job again. Sometimes the printer or driver can get confused, and communication can be restored to normal with a reboot and deleting the outstanding print jobs.

4. Re-install the driver. If you're not familiar with drivers see our tutorial here.

5. If the printer is being connected via a network, double-check the IP address settings. Sometimes printers are assigned dynamic IP addresses rather than static IP addresses, which means they could potentially lose their old IP address and be assigned a new one. Print jobs are sent to specific IP addresses, so if your printer's address changes you should update that in the driver's Port settings. Better yet, assign the printer a static IP addresses so it never changes. You can read our tutorial on printer networking here.

6. If the printer is being connected via USB, keep in mind that the USB "auto-recognize/PlugNPlay" technology can be unstable. Try looking in your Printers & Faxes folder, and see if there are a bunch of copies of the same printer listed under "Installed Printers." If so, I would unplug the printer, cancel any pending jobs and then delete all the copies of the printer. Then, with the list of Installed Printers open, replug the printer. You will see it try to auto-recognize the printer, and it will now re-install the printer into your list. Make a mental note of the name of that printer so you can choose it from your list and try reprinting the job to the freshly-installed printer.