We've all been there before—you're in a time crunch, you run to the printer, and you try to start printing, but it just won't. Now you're late, frustrated, you have no idea why your printer isn't working, and now you have to contact a help desk to try and fix it. Not only does this eat away at your time, but it can be incredibly frustrating to deal with. The good news is there are simple solutions to common printing problems that you can easily fix yourself.
Your Printer Is Slow
Printers are simple gadgets that help make us more productive, but what happens when the technology that's supposed to help streamline our lives just won't work? One of the most common and frustrating printing problems is a printer that prints too slowly. While there are many possible reasons, they're all pretty easy to fix.
It might be due to network traffic from other people trying to use the printer, which means you'll just have to wait. Or it could be that your printer's driver is outdated, and all you have to do is go to find your device manual and follow the instructions on how to update the driver. You may also be printing in high-quality mode. If you are, turn the quality setting down to draft mode for faster prints.
Print Quality Is Poor
Poor-quality printing is one of the most common printing mistakes you can easily avoid because, most of the time, the issue is the paper. If you want a higher-quality print, you're going to need higher-quality paper, such as photo paper. However, you also need to make sure that your printer's resolution settings match the image quality you're trying to achieve. For higher-quality images, check your printer's print settings and make sure it's at 300 DPI. Just keep in mind that your printer may print a little slower at this quality.
Paper Jams
Paper jams are, unfortunately, another one of those common printing problems that are extremely frustrating, but you can easily fix them yourself. Usually, this is due to one of three reasons.
You may be overloading your paper tray, so try not to stuff in as much paper as you can, and don't fill it up to the top. You may also be loading different thicknesses of paper at once. Stick to one thickness at a time, and don't mix different types of papers. Finally, you might simply be using paper that isn't appropriate for your printer, so make sure to check your printer's manual to ensure you're using the right kind. Occasionally, paper jams may be due to built-up dust or static, so if all else fails, try fanning the stack and putting it back in the tray.
At the end of the day, you don't want to fiddle around with your printer more than you have to. If you keep noticing the same problems reoccurring, you may just have to bite the bullet and call a technician.
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