Ricoh Printer Not Printing? Find the Problem and Fix It

You click Print, the document seems to go somewhere, and nothing comes out. Here's how to track down where the job stopped and get your Ricoh printing again on Windows or Mac.

A Ricoh that won't print is rarely broken. Much more often, the job is sitting somewhere you haven't looked yet: held at the machine waiting for a password, thrown out because the printer expected a user code, paused in the Windows queue, or sent to an IP address the printer stopped using weeks ago.

That's why this guide doesn't open with "restart everything." It starts by working out where your job got stuck. The answer points you to the right fix and saves you from reinstalling a driver that was never the problem.

These steps cover Ricoh multifunction printers in the IM and MP lines as well as smaller SP series printers. Menu names shift a little between models, so if a button on your screen reads slightly differently, go with the closest match.

Why Your Ricoh Printer Isn't Printing

Every print job takes the same route. Your app hands it to the driver, your computer lines it up in the print queue, the job travels over the network or a USB cable, and the printer decides whether it's allowed to print it. A snag at any one of those points stops everything. The causes fall into three groups.

The job never reaches the printer

• The printer is switched off or has lost its network or USB connection
• Windows has the printer set to "Use Printer Offline," or printing is paused
• The job went to a different printer, or to a duplicate copy of your Ricoh that no longer works
• The print spooler on your computer froze behind one stuck job
• The printer picked up a new IP address, and your computer is still sending jobs to the old one
• The driver is damaged, doesn't match your model, or was removed by a Windows change

The printer receives the job, then holds it or cancels it

• The job was sent as Locked Print or Hold Print and is waiting for you at the machine
• The printer requires a user code, your driver didn't send one, and the job was canceled
• The paper size or type in the driver doesn't match what the tray is set for

The printer can't finish the job

• Toner is empty, a tray is out of paper, or paper is jammed
• On some smaller models, the file is too large or complex for the printer's memory
• A hardware fault that shows up as a service call (SC) code

How to Fix a Ricoh Printer That Won't Print

First, find out whether the job reached the printer

Two quick checks tell you where to look, and together they take less than a minute.

Watch the Data In light. Send a one-page test print, then look at the Data In light on the printer's control panel.

• It blinks or lights up: the printer got your job. The problem is at the machine, so start with fixes 1 through 5.
• It stays dark: the job never arrived. The problem is on your computer or network, so jump to fixes 6 through 11.

Make a copy. If your Ricoh is a multifunction model, make a quick photocopy. A clean copy proves the toner, paper, and print engine all work, which means your problem is the connection, the driver, or a job setting.

1. Read the control panel before you restart anything

It's tempting to power cycle right away. Hold off for a minute. The printer's display often tells you exactly why it stopped. On some Ricoh models, turning off the main power also clears the error log you'll want in the next step.

Look for:

• A toner, paper, or jam message. The printer won't keep going with an empty toner cartridge, an empty tray, or a misfeed. Clear it, and the waiting job usually picks up where it left off. For jams, see our Ricoh printer paper jam guide.
• A lit Suspend/Resume key. On models that have one, a lit key means printing has been paused. Press it once to resume.
• An Offline status. Some Ricoh printers have an Online key. If the display shows the printer as offline, press it to bring the printer back online.
• An SC code. A service call code points to a hardware or firmware fault. Write down the full code and look it up in our Ricoh printer error codes guide.

2. Check the printer's error log or job history

Ricoh printers keep a record of jobs that didn't print, and the entry often tells you why, whether that's a failed login or a canceled job. Checking it takes the guesswork out of everything that follows.

• At the control panel: on many models, press User Tools, then go to Printer Features > List/Test Print > Error Log. The log keeps only the most recent errors, and some models erase it when the main power is switched off.
• In a web browser: type the printer's IP address into your browser's address bar to open Web Image Monitor, the printer's built-in settings page. Go to Status/Information > Job and open the printer job history. Some details stay hidden until you log in.
• On SP series printers: open Smart Organizing Monitor on your computer. Its status screen flags problems like an empty paper tray, empty toner, a jam, or a memory overflow when a file is too big or complex.

If the log mentions a user code or a login (authentication) error, go straight to fix 4. If it shows a paper mismatch, head to fix 5.

3. Release a Locked Print or Hold Print job

This one trips people up all the time, especially in shared offices. When the driver's Job Type is set to Locked Print or Hold Print, the printer accepts your document and stores it until you release it in person. From your desk, it looks like nothing happened at all.

To print a stored job:

1. On the control panel, open the Printer screen and tap Print Jobs. Newer touchscreen models also offer Quick Print Release on the Home screen.
2. Open the Locked Print Job List (or the Hold Print list) and select your file.
3. Tap Print. For a Locked Print job, enter the password you set in the driver, then tap OK.

The printer deletes the file once it prints. If you've forgotten the password, the printer's administrator can remove the job for you.

Don't need secure printing? On your computer, open Printing Preferences for the Ricoh and change Job Type back to Normal Print, so future jobs print as soon as you send them.

4. Add your user code if the printer requires one

Plenty of offices turn on user code authentication to track who prints what. Once it's on, any job that arrives without a valid code gets canceled. Your computer shows no error. The page just never appears. It's the classic reason a Ricoh prints for the whole office except the person with the new laptop.

On Windows:

1. Go to Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners, select your Ricoh, and open Printer properties.
2. On the General tab, click Preferences.
3. Open the Detailed Settings tab, choose Job Setup, and type your user code.
4. Click OK. The driver saves the code, so you won't need to enter it again.

On a Mac: in the print dialog, open the Ricoh options, choose Job Log, check Enable User Code, and enter your code.

Not sure what your code is? It's assigned by whoever manages the printer, usually your office manager or IT contact.

5. Clear a paper size or type mismatch

If the driver asks for Legal paper and the tray is set for Letter, a Ricoh won't guess. It stops, shows a mismatch message, and holds the job until someone decides what to do.

At the printer, you have three options:

• Load the paper the job needs and update that tray's paper setting on the control panel
• Press Form Feed and choose a tray that already holds the right paper
• Press Job Reset to cancel the job, correct the paper setting in your driver, and print again

If mismatches keep coming back, our error codes and messages guide  explains how to set up trays so they stop.

6. Restart the printer and computer the right way

With the checks at the printer done, a proper restart clears a lot of stuck connections. How you switch off a Ricoh multifunction printer matters, because pulling the plug too early can damage its hard disk or memory.

1. Press the main power switch once. Don't hold it down, since forcing the machine off can cause the same damage.
2. Wait until shutdown finishes and the main power light goes out before you unplug anything.
3. Wait at least 10 seconds (a full minute is better), plug it back in if you unplugged it, and turn the printer on. Let it finish starting up.
4. Restart your computer, then send a test page.

7. Turn off "Use Printer Offline" and check the default printer

When Windows can't reach a printer a few times in a row, it may mark the printer offline and keep it that way long after it's back. Windows can also switch your default printer without asking.

1. Go to Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners and select your Ricoh.
2. Click Open print queue.
3. Open the Printer menu and uncheck Use Printer Offline and Pause Printing if either one is checked.
4. Back on the printer's settings page, click Set as default. If that button is missing, turn off Let Windows manage my default printer first.

While you're in Printers & scanners, look for a second Ricoh entry with "Copy 1" or something similar in its name. If your jobs have been going to a leftover copy, remove it. If your printer keeps going offline, our Ricoh printer offline  guide covers the long-term fixes.

8. Restart the print spooler and clear stuck jobs

The print spooler is the Windows service that lines up your jobs and hands them to the printer. When one job hangs, every job behind it waits, and canceling from the queue doesn't always work.

1. Press Windows key + R, type services.msc, and press Enter.
2. Find Print Spooler, right-click it, and choose Stop.
3. Open File Explorer and go to C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS. Delete the files inside, but leave the folder itself. Windows may ask for administrator permission.
4. Return to Services, right-click Print Spooler, and choose Start.

Send a fresh test page. If jobs still won't move, see our Ricoh printer job stuck in queue guide.

9. Point the printer port at the printer's current IP address

This is one of the most common reasons a network Ricoh suddenly stops printing from one computer. After a router restart or a power outage, the router can give the printer a new IP address. Your computer keeps sending jobs to the old address, and nothing is there to answer.

1. Find the printer's current IP address in the network settings on its control panel, or print a configuration page.
2. On your computer, open Printer properties for the Ricoh and click the Ports tab.
3. Look at the checked port. If it's a WSD port, or a TCP/IP port showing an old address, click Add Port, select Standard TCP/IP Port, click New Port, and follow the wizard using the current IP address.
4. Make sure the new port is checked, click Apply, and print a test page.

To stop this from happening again, have whoever manages your network give the printer a fixed IP address, or reserve one for it in the router's settings (a DHCP reservation). WSD ports depend on Windows finding the printer on the network, and they tend to break when the address changes. That's why a Standard TCP/IP port is the more dependable choice for an office printer.

10. Reinstall the Ricoh driver

If jobs leave the queue and vanish, or printing stopped right after a Windows update, the driver is the next suspect. Remove the printer from Printers & scanners, restart your computer, and install the current driver for your exact model from Ricoh's official support site. Our Ricoh printer driver guide walks through the download, the install, and which driver type to choose.

Two recent Windows changes are worth knowing before you start:

• Windows Update won't fetch a new Ricoh driver for you. Since January 15, 2026, Microsoft no longer publishes new printer drivers to Windows Update for Windows 11. Drivers you already have keep working, but for a fresh install, download the package from Ricoh directly. Ricoh's free Device Software Manager tool can also find your printer on the network and download a matching driver.
• Windows protected print mode removes printer makers' own drivers. If this setting is turned on, Windows uninstalls printers that use third-party drivers, including Ricoh's, and won't let you reinstall them while the mode stays on. Printers that are Mopria certified can be added back using the printing support built into Windows. On a work computer, check with your IT team before changing this setting.

If the trouble began right after an update, our Ricoh printer issue after Windows update guide goes deeper.

11. Run the Windows printer troubleshooter

Windows can check the spooler, the connection, and the driver on its own. It can't release a Locked Print job or add a missing user code, but it's worth running if nothing above has worked yet.

1. Open Settings > System > Troubleshoot > Other troubleshooters.
2. Next to Printer, click Run. On current versions of Windows 11, this opens the Get Help app, which runs the checks automatically.
3. Pick your Ricoh when asked and follow the prompts.

Ricoh Printer Not Printing on a Mac

Everything you do at the printer works the same on a Mac: panel messages, Locked Print jobs, user codes, and paper mismatches. The steps on the computer are where things differ.

• Resume a paused queue. Open System Settings > Printers & Scanners, select your Ricoh, and click Printer Queue. If you see a Resume button, printing was paused. Click it.
• Remove the printer and add it back. Select the Ricoh, remove it from the list, then add it again with the Add Printer button. This clears out an old connection, including one that points to an outdated IP address.
• Reset the printing system as a last resort. In Printers & Scanners, Control-click the printer list and choose Reset Printing System. This deletes every printer and all saved print presets, so you'll need to set up your Ricoh again afterward.

If you added the printer through AirPrint and need Ricoh-specific options, see the Mac section of our Ricoh printer driver guide.