Epson Printer Troubleshooting (Won’t Print?) 8 Reasons

Epson printer not printing? Printing your document should be as easy as clicking “Print”. But sometimes your Epson printer won’t print. Let’s do some Epson printer troubleshooting.

Here are 8 things we’ll check in our Epson printer troubleshooting:

1. Printer Cartridges: no ink, wrong cartridge, cartridge setup
2. Blocked Print Head
3. Paper Problems
4. Default Printer
5. Printer Firmware and Firewall Issues
6. Print Jobs Stuck in Printer Queue
7. Printer Offline
8. Outdated Printer Driver

You’ll learn how to fix each of these problems in our Epson printer troubleshooting guide.

We will discuss the issues and how to correct them, and we will have you back to printing your documents and photos in no time.

Epson Printer Troubleshooting: 8 Steps

Here are the most common reasons your Epson printer’s not printing correctly.

1. Printer Cartridges

You might be having difficulty printing due to your printer cartridge. The cartridge can cause several issues.

A. No Ink

The most manageable problem to troubleshoot is when you have run out of ink. Replace the ink cartridge, and you are back in business.

Here’s how to change the ink in your Epson printer. This guide also covers how to reset ink levels inside the printer.

B. Wrong Cartridge

The Epson printers require a genuine Epson printer cartridge to print correctly. Inspect your cartridge to ensure you are using the correct one; if not, replace it with an original Epson cartridge.

Of course, some aftermarket cartridges will work. But if you’re having trouble, it could be a low-quality copy. When troubleshooting, I like to remove variables. And installing a genuine Epson cartridge is a great first step.

Don’t forget to check that you’ve removed the protective tape from your ink cartridge. This is one reason your printer won’t print even with full ink.

2. Blocked Print Head

Dirt and dust can build up in your printer. And this accumulation can block your print head which will cause your printer to stop working correctly.

There are two ways to clean your Epson printer heads.

A. In-Printer Cleaning of Print Head

This problem is easy to fix as the printer will clean its print head, and you must tell the printer to do this chore.

1. Choose the Maintenance menu from the toolbox
2. Click on “Print Head Cleaning” from the Maintenance menu
3. Confirm by pressing “Yes” and then “OK.”
4. Your printer will start the cleaning process

Once the printer has finished cleaning, restart it and try to print again. If the print head was blocked, this cleaning should solve the issue.

Do you still need more help? Here are some tips for cleaning an Epson print head.

B. Manually Wash Blocked Print Head

As you’ll see in the following video, you can also clean the print head and manually wash it.

It would be best to clean your printer head regularly to prevent this issue.

One way to keep your printhead from clogging is to use it regularly. You can print small items regularly to ensure it is in good working order.

Cleaning your printer heads is one way to clear the Epson error code 0x97.

3. Paper Problems

It is hard to believe, but the paper you are using can be causing the problem. You have to ensure that you are loading the correct size paper for your printer.

Insert the paper neatly and precisely in the tray, or the printer may not print as desired.

Be careful about trying to print on paper stock that is too thick for your printer. Here’s more about printing on construction paper.

Open your printer and look for any paper jams. Jams will stop the printer from working. Remove any paper that you can see and try to print again. Your printer has many moving parts, so you may have to open it up and investigate.

Here are 5 ways to fix a paper jam.

4. Default Printer Setting

Another common problem is that you have not set your Epson printer as your default. You can fix this issue quickly. 

1. Open your Contol Panel
2. Go to Devices and Printers
3. If your Epson printer is not set as the default, right-click on the “Epson printer” and click “Set as default.”
4. Ensure that the printer has a green check mark on it.

5. Printer Firmware and Firewall Issues

To determine if your firewall has a problem, you will have to disable it temporarily. 

1. Go to the search bar and enter “Windows Defender Firewall,” and click on it
2. Choose “Turn Windows Firewall on or off,” located to the left
3. Disable the firewall on the public and private networks.
4. Select “OK” to confirm the changes

Once you have disabled the firewall, try printing again. If the printer works, you know there was a firewall installation problem.

You should not leave your firewall disabled, so you should reinstall it as quickly as possible.

6. Print Jobs Stuck in Printer Queue

You may encounter that your printing job is stuck in the printer queue, and you will have to clear the printing queue and then try printing again.

Follow these steps to clear the printing queue.

1. Open the Control Panel
2. Enter services.msc in the search bar and press enter
3. Scroll to Print Spooler and right-click. Click on Stop
4. Go to “Run,” type “Spool,” and hit Enter
5. Open the “Printers” folder
6. Delete everything in the folder
7. Go to the “services” window, right-click printer spooler, and choose “Start.”
8. Try reprinting your job

7. Printer Offline

Your printer may be showing that it is offline, but you can change the settings from offline to online. There are several reasons for this message.

Check that the Epson printer and device are connected to the same internet source. It might be wise to determine if you have internet.

If there is no internet, your printer will show as offline, and you will have to wait until the internet is restored before you can print.

Check all cables to determine if everything is plugged in. A disconnected or loose cable can also cause an offline message.

Here is what you have to do:

1. Go to Control Panel
2. Click on “Devices and Printers”
3. Find your Epson printer and right-click on it.
4. Choose “See what’s printing.”
5. Go down to “Use printer offline” and make sure it has not been selected
6. If it is showing a check mark, click on it to change the setting to online

Here’s how to fix your offline Epson printer.

8. Outdated Printer Driver

It is essential to keep your printer driver updated. You should install the latest updates as soon as you can.

You can update your printer driver by following the following steps.

1. Go to the Windows search option and enter Run
2. Enter “devmgmt.msc” in the search box and hit enter
3. Go to printing or print queue
4. Right-click on the Epson printer and tap on “Update Driver” from the list
5. Select “Check for automatically updated driver program.”
6. Follow the on-screen directions to continue the installation.

Curious about what printer you have? Here’s how to know if you have an inkjet or laser printer.

Get Printing!

In this Epson printer troubleshooting guide, we have addressed the common problems that some users face. Before investigating, check your power source. A fluctuating power source can cause your Epson printer to stop printing, and resolving the issue might be as simple as finding another power outlet.

What worked for you? Please share your experience to help other users resolve their Epson printer problems.