Why HP Printer Not Communicating With Computer?

Rare are the things that are infuriating as when you are in the hurry to print something your PC throws a message that it can’t communicate with your HP printer. In such a situation knowing why HP printer not communicating with computer can mean a difference between fixing the problem and being frustrated.

There are two problems that are the most common reason why your computer is not communicating with your HP printer, the printer’s USB cable or power cable. In the case of wireless printers, it might be that it is not connected to your local network.

But the more important thing is what to do in such a situation, and how to fix this problem? So, let’s dive into this matter.

How do I fix my printer not communicating with my computer?

The most common cause of your printer not being able to communicate with your computer is the lack of power. So, to fix this problem, the very first thing you need to do is check whether its power LED is on or green. If it is not, you have to press it, as it almost always doubles as a power on/off button.

If the LED still doesn’t light up you must check the power cord. The best to do is to unplug it and replace it in the printer side socket. Because it can look as if it is properly plugged in when it is not seated properly.

If it doesn’t help, you should check the data cable. It can become dislodged either on PC’s or printer’s side. The best is to pull it out and reseat both ends. And this should solve your problems.

Read: How To Connect Brother Printer To Wifi?

How do I get my computer to recognize my HP printer?

The main reason why your computer may not recognize your HP printer is that you do not have installed drivers for it on your PC. So, the obvious solution is to install them. To go about doing this, you need to first connect your printer to your PC and turn it on. When done, you need to click on the Start button, then Settings.

On the Settings screen you need to select Devices, and then Printers ; Scanners. The next step is to select Add a printer or scanner and then follow the instructions on your screen. And in less than a few minutes you will be all set to get on with printing anything you need.

Why does it say unable to communicate with the printer?

The most common reason why you might get an “unable to communicate with the printer” error message is that your printer is not powered on. So, to fix this message you need to make sure that your printer is actually powered on. The first thing to do is to check the status of the power LED.

Simply pressing the power on/off button can fix the problem. But if it doesn’t, then you need to check the power cord whether it is properly seated, both on your printer’s side and the power outlet. Very likely you will notice that on one of the ends the cable was not securely plugged in, and all you need is to reseat it.

Read: Why Brother Wireless Printer Connected But Not Printing?

How do I get my computer to recognize my wireless printer?

Your PC might not be able to recognize your wireless or Bluetooth printer for the simple reason that it wasn’t added to your devices on your PC. All wireless devices have to be added before the operating system can recognize them and communicate with them.

This is done very simply by powering on your wireless printer and then on your PC clicking on the Start button and opening the Settings window. Here you need to choose Bluetooth ; Devices option and then Add a printer or scanner, followed by Add device. After this, you have to follow the instructions on the screen. The setup guide will do everything for you.

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How do I reset my HP wireless printer?

Sometimes your WiFi network setting can change for various reasons, and if you have a WiFi-capable HP printer, you will need to reset its network settings. If you don’t have much experience, this could sound like a daunting task, but in reality, it is a very simple thing to do, and there is nothing that could go wrong.

The first thing to do is to press and hold the WiFi button n the back of your printer for 5 seconds, or until a prompt pops up on a control display. On some models, this happens after 3 seconds, while most commonly it does after 5 seconds. When it pops up, all you have to do is to press OK and the network settings will be reset to defaults.

Once the settings have been reset to default, you can reconnect it to your WiFi network using your own preferred method. The easiest way to go about it is by using the WPS mode, which takes care of everything for you.

Read: Can A UPS Last For 3 Hours?

Why is my computer unable to establish two-way communication with my printer?

There are four most common reasons why your computer can’t establish two-way communication with your printer:

• not powered on,
• not connected data cable,
• corrupted driver files,
• changed WiFi network settings.

Most of the time the computer is not able to communicate with the printer because the printer is not powered on. As the leading cause after this is the fact that computers and printers are not connected with each other. Also, a common mistake is that people are trying to print something before they have installed the printer drivers on their computers.

Without drivers, your PC doesn’t “know” how to communicate with your printer, so you must make sure that you have them installed and regularly updated for fixes of some problems you are not aware of, and many other things.

But, sometimes certain problems can lead to this situation. For example, printer driver files can become corrupted during some automatic update, or for a similar reason. To fix this you need to reinstall the drivers. But in the case of WiFi printers, a simple change of the WiFi network settings can be the cause of the problem.

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How do I connect my printer via WiFi?

The easiest way to connect your WiFi-capable printer to your WiFi network is by using the WPS (WiFi Protected Setup) mode. This is an automated set-up mode that is controlled by your WiFi router, and it removes any chance of choosing the wrong settings. So, you can rest assured that the whole process will complete successfully.

To do this you need to first start the WPS mode on your printer. This can slightly differ between printer models, so the best is to consult the User manual for your printer. Next, you need to press the button on your router marked as WPS. After a few seconds, your printer will be all set up.

Conclusion

Very often problems with IT gear can lead to frustration and panic. But when your HP printer can’t communicate with your computer it is not a cause for an alarm. Almost always it is caused by something that can be fixed in seconds.