HP Officejet printer always "paused"

mpainesyd · December 10, 2024, 2:51am

My HP Officejet printer is misbehaving. My Macbook Air (Sonoma) initially reports it as “Idle” but as soon as I try to print anything it fails to print and says the printer is “busy” (or “paused”).

I have tried numerous things like unplugging the printer when it is on (HP support pages) and restarting my computer and router. Also connecting with ethernet instead of wifi and removing then adding the printer on the Mac.

Bizarrely, my old iMac running Mojave still works as do my iPhone and iPad (OS 18.1). But my partner’s Macbook, running Monterey, reports the printer as “paused”.

Maybe there is a way to reset the printer settings on the Macs, or updating (backdating?) the printer drivers?

TonyTownsend · December 10, 2024, 4:20pm

My reliable voodoo for this kind of printer problem is to remove the printer from Settings > Printers & Scanners, and then add it back in again.

You can also try going to the printer in the list, right-clicking the HP listing and selecting ‘Reset Printing System’.

mpainesyd · December 10, 2024, 8:25pm

Thanks Tony - the Reset Printing System tip worked. A bit drastic as all printers associated with that computer are removed but at least I only have 2 to add back in. All working well now.

I had some intermittent wifi issues yesterday and I suspect that the printer problem arose because two of my Macs were trying to print when connection was lost.