Printing, and when nothing comes out
Print a letter, and work out in under a minute why nothing has appeared — without pressing Print another six times.
This one fact explains almost every printing mystery there is, and nobody is ever told it.
When you press Print, the computer does not reach out and start the machine. It writes your letter onto a short waiting list — the queue — and something else takes things off that list and sends them along. If the printer is asleep, unplugged or off the Wi-Fi, your letter sits in the queue, entirely intact, waiting.
Key points
- Choose the right machine before you press Print.
- Say what actually happens when you press Print.
- Stop pressing Print again when nothing comes out.
What to remember
- Always read the printer name at the top of the panel before you press Print.
- Press Print once. If nothing comes out, go and look at the queue rather than pressing it again.
Try this
Press Print in anything on your own machine and read the list of printers before pressing anything else. Knowing which name is yours — and which one is the office you left in 2014 — is most of this job.
Practice: Printing, and when nothing comes out. Your first lesson is free, with no account or card; the rest are part of a Lantern plan. Interactive lessons require JavaScript.