"Printer suspended": what does it mean and what to do?

Sooner or later, every printer owner is faced with printing problems. When the equipment, while offline, gives a message that the work has been suspended, the layman thinks that the time has come to buy a new device. However, you can fix the problem yourself by finding out the cause. This will eliminate the need to contact a service center.

If a running printer pauses printing and says "The printer is paused", this indicates a malfunction or minor malfunctions. This status appears on the printer icon for various reasons. For example, this may be due to a faulty USB cable or wire. When the equipment is not working, the computer automatically sets the printer to automatic mode. The technician enters this mode at the command of the user or independently. If the product is paused, new jobs will not be printed, but can be added to the print queue. In addition, printing may be paused because the machine is temporarily disconnected from the computer. In this case, the reasons for the lack of connection "computer-printer" may be:

• damage to the wire;
• loose port fit;
• power outage.

The printer is connected to the computer via 2 cables. One of them supplies power, the other is used to establish software communication. Apart from the USB cable, it can also be an Ethernet cable. The network connection can be a Wi-Fi connection. The reasons for the suspension of printing can be in the operation of drivers, malfunctioning of the printer (MFP) itself, as well as the selection of certain functions in the control panel. As for drivers, problems with them may be due to a recent rollback of the operating system to a specific restore point.

Problems with the printer itself are most common among other causes. (printing errors, paper jam). If it is a networking technique, the suspended state is due to a communication failure. Printing may pause if the printing device is out of ink, and SNMP status for the network printer is enabled. In the latter case, disabling the status is enough to fix the problem.

The solution to the problem depends on its cause. Often, checking the USB cable and power cord is enough to restore printing after a pause. If the wire comes off, you need to reconnect it and restart the computer. When visual inspection reveals damage, change the cable. It is not safe to use a damaged wire.

The device, which is in uncontrolled mode, must be returned to working condition. If reconnecting to the power supply does not help, you need to identify the root of the problem. To exit offline mode, you need to:

• open the "Start" menu, open the "Devices and Printers" tab;
• select the available printing device in the open window;
• call the context menu by double-clicking on the icon;
• in the list of equipment that appears, uncheck the box in front of the "Work autonomously" item.

If this action does not help, the reason may lie in frozen tasks. Several documents can accumulate in the print queue. Pause printing occurs in the event of program crashes, errors and printer malfunctions. If a network printer spontaneously goes offline and the settings are correct, you must download and install an update to the server operating system.

To remove the status and resume typing, you need to act according to a certain scheme. First you need to start the hardware, click on the "Start" menu, then go to "Devices and Printers". After that, you should select your printer, open "View the print queue". Then, in the open printer window, you need to enter the settings and uncheck the box next to the "Pause printing" item. After that, the status "Ready" will appear on the printer icon, highlighted in green.

If the problem is resolved, it was caused by an application stopping the service or by an internal conflict while processing tasks. Conflict of events is especially typical for low-power PCs after an automatic update of their system. In this case, you need diagnostics, defragmentation, and deletion of temporary files.

At the same time, it is better to disable unnecessary services in memory that are involved in event handling. If defragmentation, deleting temporary files does not help, you can roll back the system to the factory state. You need to restart your PC for the updates to take effect.

The suspension of printing, associated with the clogging of the queue of documents sent to it, is resolved quickly. This happens in different cases. For example, when many programs are open, as well as when several users are using a network printer at once. In order to clear the print queue, it is worth:

• go to the control panel;
• go to the "Devices and Printers" tab;
• select a device with the "Paused" status;
• call the context menu with the right mouse button;
• click on the inscription "View print queue";
• select "Cancel" printing documents.

Besides, in this window, you need to pay attention to the fact that there are no check marks next to the inscriptions "Pause printing" and "Paused". If they are standing, they must be removed by clicking the left mouse button. This must be done with the printer turned on. You can delete documents one at a time or all at once. After that, the window with documents or photographs standing in the queue for printing must be closed.

The status "Ready" appears on the printer icon. If this does not happen, you need to turn off and then turn on the printer. If this does not help, you need to install it and then reinstall the driver on the PC. In order not to face failures and errors in the future when printing documents, photos or PDF files, you need to install the utility downloaded from the official website. You can also download it on special thematic forums and sites.

This problem occurs when using previously printed sheets for printing. Saving paper turns into paper jams while printing. As a result, printing pauses and a red light comes on on the printer panel. This error is not difficult to fix. You need to lift the printer cover and gently pull the sheet towards you. Do not pull on the paper too harshly; if it breaks, you will have to partially disassemble the printer and remove the jammed pieces. If even a small piece remains inside, the printer may stop printing altogether.

If in the course of fixing the problem the printer icon continues to say "Paused", nothing can be changed, you can uninstall the driver and reinstall it. In order for the changes to take effect, you need to restart your PC. If the pause status appeared while working with a network printer, you need to go to the device settings and open the "Properties" tab. In the window that opens, select "Ports" and then check the SNMP status. There should not be a tick in front of the inscription.If it is, the selection is deselected by pressing the right mouse button.

Suspended or incorrect printing may be related to an update to the Windows 10 operating system. In addition, each operating system has slightly different resumption of printing equipment. For example, you need to take offline mode on Windows 10 computers through Start - Settings - Devices, Printers and Scanners. The further scheme does not differ from the standard one.

As for defragmenting the disk, which slows down the operation of the printing device, it will take longer. After its completion, you need to restart the PC for the changes to take effect. Typically, proof printing runs non-stop. To avoid this situation, you need to defragment the disk from time to time. This is especially important for low-power PCs.

What to do if the printer does not print, see the video below.