Printer showing as Paused in System Settings on your Mac
Your printer is paused in your Mac's queue and needs to be resumed. Go to System Settings → Printers & Scanners, find your printer, and click Resume. Print jobs will start going through immediately.
Your Mac has a print queue. A list of printers it knows about. Sometimes this queue pauses without you doing anything, which stops all printing even though the printer itself is fine. Resuming the printer in System Settings gets everything moving again. It's a quick one-step fix.
Fix-IT-Bot will walk you through each step — just tap, no typing needed.
Skip — I just want a technicianCommon mistakes to avoid
- Restarting the Mac thinking that's required. Just clicking Resume in System Settings is enough
- Removing the printer when really you just needed to resume it
- Assuming the printer is broken when really it's paused in the Mac's queue
Signs you need professional help
- You've resumed the printer and it's still showing Paused The printer won't reconnect after you remove and re-add it You've cleared all failed jobs and printing still doesn't work
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