Canon Printer Not Printing: How to Diagnose the Cause

When a Canon printer stops printing, the job usually looks fine on your screen but nothing reaches the paper, or you get a blank sheet. Most of the time this is not a broken printer. It is a stuck print queue, an offline status, an empty or clogged cartridge, or a driver that lost its connection after an update. This guide runs through the checks in the order a technician would try them, starting with the 60-second fixes and moving into Windows, Mac, and model-specific steps for PIXMA, MAXIFY, imageCLASS, and SELPHY.

Start here: quick checks that solve most cases

Try these first. Many "won't print" problems never get past this list.

• Turn the printer fully off, wait about 30 seconds, then turn it back on. This clears most temporary faults.
• Look at the printer's screen or status lights for an error message, a code, or a flashing alert, and deal with that first.
• Open the covers and confirm there is paper in the tray and no jammed sheet, torn scrap, or lid left ajar.
• Print the built-in self-test or nozzle check from the printer's own menu, with no computer involved. If that prints, the problem is on the computer or network side. If it does not, the problem is in the printer, the ink, or the print head.
• Check that the job is going to the right printer, not a second copy of it, an old USB profile, or "Microsoft Print to PDF."
• Check ink or toner levels from the printer menu, not from the box the cartridge came in.

If the self-test prints but your documents do not, go to the Windows or Mac section. If nothing prints at all, focus on ink, the print head, and any error code.

Why your Canon printer won't print

• A stuck or paused print queue. One failed job blocks everything behind it.
• The printer is set to "Use Printer Offline" or is not your default printer.
• Empty, very low, or poorly seated ink or toner. A nearly empty tank can stop printing even when the page still looks mostly fine.
• Protective tape or a seal left on a new cartridge. The orange tape and any plastic clip have to come off completely.
• Clogged or dried print head nozzles on inkjet models, which is common after a few weeks without use.
• A paper jam, an open cover, or an error state with a code such as 1300, 1403, 5B00, 6000, or B200.
• Lost Wi-Fi or a changed IP address. If your router restarted, the printer may have a new address that your computer no longer points to.
• An outdated, corrupted, or wrong driver, including the generic driver that Windows or macOS sometimes installs on its own.
• A recent Windows or macOS update that swapped the driver or changed the printer port.
• Security or account settings on office models, such as a Department ID, a Secure Print hold, or a print limit.

How to fix a Canon printer not printing on Windows 11 and Windows 10

Work through these in order and print a test page after each step.

1. Check the connection. For USB, try a different cable and a port directly on the computer rather than a hub. For Wi-Fi, confirm the printer shows a connected signal on its screen and sits on the same network as your PC, not a separate guest network.
2. Clear the print queue. Go to Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners, open your Canon, choose "Open print queue," and cancel every job listed. Old failed jobs hold up new ones.
3. Turn off offline and paused modes. In the same print queue window, open the Printer menu and uncheck "Use Printer Offline" and "Pause Printing."
4. Set the Canon as default. In Printers & scanners, select your Canon and choose "Set as default." Turn off "Let Windows manage my default printer" so it stops switching back.
5. Restart the Print Spooler. Press Windows + R, type services.msc, and press Enter. Find Print Spooler, right-click it, and choose Restart. If jobs still hang, stop the service, delete everything inside C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS, then start the service again.
6. Run the printer troubleshooter. Go to Settings > System > Troubleshoot > Other troubleshooters and run Printer. On newer Windows 11 builds this opens the Get Help assistant, which runs the same repairs.
7. Check the port. In Printers & scanners, open your Canon, then Printer properties > Ports. A network printer should use a WSD or Standard TCP/IP port that matches its current IP address. Print a network configuration page from the printer menu to see that address.
8. Reinstall the driver. Download the full driver package for your exact model and Windows version from the Canon support site. Remove the printer from Printers & scanners, run the Canon installer, and add the printer back.
9. Install pending Windows updates, restart, and test again.
10. If it broke right after an update, reinstall the Canon driver, or roll back the printer driver in Device Manager, then reset the correct port.

How to fix a Canon printer not printing on Mac

1. Check the printer screen and the connection. Restart the printer, and for Wi-Fi restart the router too.
2. Open the print queue. Go to System Settings > Printers & Scanners > your Canon > Print Queue. If it says Paused, click Resume. Delete any job showing an error.
3. Confirm the right printer is selected in the print dialog and set as the default. Remove duplicate entries for the same printer.
4. Check which driver is in use. Some newer Macs print through AirPrint only, which is fine for everyday documents. If you need borderless photos, specific media types, or the maintenance tools, install the Canon driver for your macOS version from the Canon support site.
5. Remove and re-add the printer. Select it in Printers & Scanners, click the minus button, then add it again with the plus button. In the Add window, pick the entry whose "Use" field names your Canon model or the Canon driver rather than "AirPrint" when you want full features.
6. Reset the printing system as a last resort. Right-click inside the printer list, choose "Reset printing system," confirm, then add the printer again. This wipes every printer, queue, and setting, so only use it if nothing else worked.
7. Restart the Mac and test with the Nozzle Check from the printer menu or the Canon utility.

Model-specific notes: PIXMA, MAXIFY, imageCLASS, and SELPHY

PIXMA inkjet (TS, TR, MG, MX, and iP series) — run from the Maintenance menu or the Canon IJ Printer Assistant Tool:

• Print a Nozzle Check pattern. Missing or broken lines point to a clogged head.
• Run Print Head Cleaning, then print another nozzle check. Repeat once if needed.
• If lines are still missing, run Deep Cleaning one time.
• If it still fails, switch the printer off and leave it for at least 24 hours, then run one more cleaning. Dried ink often loosens overnight.
• Reseat each cartridge until it clicks, and confirm the orange tape is fully removed on new ones.
• A cartridge reading very low can stop printing. Try a genuine replacement before you assume the head has failed.

PIXMA G series (MegaTank)

• Check the ink windows on the tanks against the lower limit line.
• If you printed until a tank ran dry, air can get into the lines. Refill, then run cleaning two or three times to draw ink back through the system.

MAXIFY office inkjet

• Use the same head cleaning steps as PIXMA.
• Check for a paper size or type mismatch between the driver and the loaded paper, and for any job accounting or ID limit set by an administrator.

imageCLASS laser (MF and LBP series)

• These use toner, not ink. Remove the toner cartridge, pull out the orange sealing tape if it is new, and reseat it until it locks.
• A worn drum unit causes faded or blank output even with toner remaining. Check the drum life in the status menu.
• If the screen reads "Toner Low" but you want to keep going, turn on the continue-printing setting in the maintenance menu.
• Held jobs are common on these models. Check for Secure Print jobs waiting for a PIN, and for a Department ID or a print limit blocking the job.
• Make sure the installed driver fits your needs. The UFR II or PCL driver gives more control than a basic driver.

SELPHY CP1300 photo printer

• SELPHY uses dye-sublimation. The paper and the color ink cassette have to be the same size and from the same set. A mismatch stops printing.
• Keep the ink sheet in the cassette taut. If it looks slack, turn the spool to take up the slack before you load it.
• Load only SELPHY paper, glossy side up. It will not print on plain paper.
• Leave clear space behind the printer. The paper moves in and out several times during a single print.

When it is a hardware problem

• The nozzle check is still blank after a deep cleaning and a 24-hour rest. The print head is likely failing.
• The printer shows the same error code after a full reset, especially B200, 5B00, or 6000.
• You hear grinding, the carriage does not move, or the printer will not power on.

On lower-cost PIXMA and SELPHY models, a replacement print head or a repair often costs more than a new printer. On MAXIFY and imageCLASS models, a repair is usually worth it. If the printer is still under warranty, contact Canon before you open anything.