How to fix problems that cause your printer or scanner to not work

Last Updated on 28.10.2024 by DriverNew

This article applies to printers, scanners and MFPs from Canon, Epson, HP, Ricoh, Samsung, Pantum, TOSHIBA, OKI and other manufacturers.

The reason why your printer or scanner is not working may be due to improper driver installation, as well as an unsuitable USB cable or a non-functioning USB port on your computer. So, if you have installed the drivers correctly but the printer or scanner is not working, then connect the printer (scanner) to your computer through a single USB cable and do not use any adapters for it. Also try connecting the USB cable to a different USB port on your computer or use a different USB cable.

If your printer and scanner were working fine but stopped working after updating your Windows operating system, uninstall the previously installed driver and reinstall it. Be sure to restart your computer after installing and uninstalling the drivers.

How to properly install printer or scanner drivers and troubleshoot problems

Do not connect your printer or scanner to your computer with a USB cable. Start installing the drivers first. During the installation process, a message will appear on your monitor informing you when to connect the printer (scanner) to your computer. After installing the drivers, restart your computer and, if necessary, install additional software to use the scanner.

A common mistake when installing a driver is to first connect the printer or scanner to your computer with a USB cable and then install the driver. In this case, the operating system detects the connected device and installs its own driver, which may not work properly or at all. However, some other devices may work fine with the driver installed by the operating system. Therefore, if there is a driver specifically created for your device, start installing that driver first and only then connect the device to your computer. If you have installed the driver incorrectly, uninstall it, restart your computer and reinstall the software. Be sure to restart your computer after installing and uninstalling drivers.

Some printer and scanner manufacturers do not create a setup.exe installation file. In this case, open the downloaded file, which should contain the driver, and use the .INF file for installation. This article will explain in more detail how to install this driver.

How to uninstall drivers in Windows 10 operating system

Disconnect the USB cable that connects the printer to your computer. In your Windows operating system, click on Start, Settings, and then Applications. In the list of installed programs, locate and left-click your printer or scanner driver and click “Uninstall” and then click “Uninstall” again. Click “Yes” to confirm the software removal and follow the instructions on the monitor screen. In the same way, uninstall all drivers and software with the name of your printer and scanner. After that, restart your computer.

This video shows you how to uninstall drivers for your printer and scanner.

You can download drivers from the website of your printer or scanner manufacturer. However, your printer may have several drivers available for download (e.g. “UFR II”, “PCL6”, “PS3”) and many users do not know which driver to choose for installation.

If you are having trouble finding a driver or don’t know which driver to choose, you can download the right driver from this website. For each printer and scanner, we have selected the most suitable drivers and described how to install them correctly. The driver downloads will follow the same links as the manufacturer’s website. In the search bar on this website (located at the top right of any page), type the model of your printer or scanner and press the “Enter” button.

Additional Information

If you have problems installing drivers or other software for your device (printer, scanner, monitor, keyboard, etc.), please tell us the model of your device and the version of your operating system (for example: Windows 11, Windows 10 64-bit, Windows 8 64-bit, etc.) and we will try to help you. Email us.

Find operating system info in Windows

Find operating system info in Windows 11

If you can't find drivers (software) for Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8 operating systems, you can install old drivers for Windows 7 and Windows Vista operating systems. In most cases, these drivers are compatible with newer operating systems, install normally and there are no problems.

How to find out what version of the operating system is installed on your Mac device. From the Apple menu in the top left corner of your screen, select About This Mac. You should see the macOS name, such as macOS Sonoma, followed by the version number. If you need to know the build number as well, click the version number to see it.

install driverHow to install the driver if there is no setup.exe file and how to install the driver using the .INF file. In this case, open the downloaded file that should contain the driver and use the .INF file to install. In this article, we will tell and show you how to install a driver using an .INF file.
software for computerEssential software for any computer - If you bought a new computer or reinstalled the operating system, then on this page of the site you will find all the necessary software and instructions for installing it. Software for computers with the Windows operating system.
Scanner softwareIf you can’t find scanner software or don’t know how to use your scanner to scan documents and photos. This problem occurs because some scanners and multifunction devices only have drivers, but do not have dedicated software to control the scanner.

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