Alen Williams's blog : How to Deal With HP Printer Troubleshooting for Common Error

Alen Williams's blog

To resolve problems with the HP printer, the first thing to know is why the problem occurs. After the cause is identified, you can take the appropriate steps to resolve this problem. The paper jam error is one of the most common problems for most HP printer customers. When printing material is stuck inside the printer, paper jam occurs. If you do not regularly clean the printer or use the wrong paper to print, the error occurs. Printhead problems often occur on HP printers as well. Follow the below methods HP printers troubleshooting for common problems.

The Most Common HP Printer Issue Power off the HP printer before you start resetting

  • Stop all the ongoing processes on your OS. 
  • Switch the computer off.
  • Make sure the printer power cord is connected directly to the wall outlet.
  • Power on computer and printer.
  • Look for your operating system model number on your printer.
  • Select from the list your printer.
  • On the HP Printer Assistant page, select Scan Document or Photo or Manage to Computer option.
  • Check whether there’s a checkmark next to the Computer Start automatically scan option.
  • Select the HP Solution Center settings option. Try a scan test.

Troubleshooting HP Printer Issues – Simple Steps

Step 1: The HP printer is renowned for its reliability and printable quality. There are chances of an error occurring while performing a specific task in your HP printer. When an error message is displayed in the Scanner Failure screen, the printer will not scan, copy or fax jobs. Go to the troubleshooting methods discussed below to resolve HP printer problems.

Step 2: Try uninstalling the printer driver as soon as this error message appears on the screen. To uninstall the printer driver, perform the following instructions. Turn the printer off the computer first and take the power cable out of the printer.

Step 3: Open the Control Panel window on your operating system (Windows). In the window, select the Program or Program & Feature option and click the Reinstall tab. The number of program files installed will be shown on the screen.

Step 4: Choose the printer driver file you want to uninstall from the list. Right-click on the selected file and select the option Uninstall. In the confirmation dialog box displayed, click the Yes button. Turn on the printer now. Make sure the paper is loaded and the ink cartridges are installed before moving on the printer.

Step 5: Go now to the website of the manufacturer and download the software Driver. To access advanced features, select HP Smart or the full software option. Try a test scan after installing the printer driver. If the error continues while trying to solve HP printer problems, check your computer’s Windows Image Acquisition settings.

Step 6: The scan jobs can fail if the Windows Image Acquisition option is disabled. Click on the Local Services option to view and select the Services window option for Windows Image Acquisition. Check status and type of startup.

Step 7: If the status is shown automatically as Running and Startup Type, the WIA is enabled or is working correctly. If the WIA option is deactivated, right-click on the WIA option. Select the option Properties and click on the General tab.

Step 8: Select the Automatic option in the drop-down startup type menu and select the Start button to enable the WIA option. If the error is resolved, try a Scan test. Run your Windows Print & Scan Doctor. It solves most of the scanning problems. First of all, you must install from the manufacturer’s site the HP Print and Scan Doctor tool.

Step 9: The tool contains several options to fix printer problems. It is supported on the Windows OS only. Set it up after the tool has been downloaded. Start the tool, click Start and add it to the printer. To test your scanner, click the Fix Scanning option.

Step 10: If the outcome of the scan is positive, try the Scan test. If the error continues, the printer connection will be fixed. Try a test if the error is cleared. 

How to Fix HP Printer Driver is Unavailable Issue on Windows 10?


The HP printer driver is unavailable issue is very common. It creates a whole lot of problems for an organization and brings productivity down also. We bring you this guide to help you deal with the situation whenever you find that your driver is unavailable on HP printer.

The post also explains the key reasons why your HP printer’s saying that the driver is unavailable on the printer.

Why does my HP printer say the driver is unavailable?

You must be facing this problem of HP printers randomly stopping in the middle of an important job. All appears to look good from the system’s end but the printer appears to be not communicating at all. You had given a command to print but nothing worked, so far, in your favor. So why is this happening?

HP printer status driver is unavailable can occur  due to the following reasons:

When the printer driver is corrupt – The printer driver can become corrupted or outdated for many different reasons mostly due to an incomplete installation of drivers in our system.

When contents in print spooler are corrupt – Print spooler is the software program that communicates with the printer’s server. It manages all pending print jobs. An HP printer needs a program like a print spooler that decides what would be the sequence of the documents to be printed. We tend to get the error ‘HP printer driver is unavailable’ due to spooler service failure where the software gets crashed.

When your PC is incompatible with the printer driver – The functioning of the printer affects when our system is loaded with an outdated driver, which hasn’t been updated for a long time. It tends to conflict with the system making the printer driver incompatible.

Method to fix the ‘HP Printer Driver is Unavailable’ issue?

We have compiled multiple methods to identify and effectively fix issues pertaining to the driver is unavailable on HP printer issue.

Method 1

If HP printer driver is unavailable, then reinstall your printer driver

If your HP printer driver is unavailable then chances are your drivers are corrupt. All you need to do is uninstall the existing one and reinstall the latest version, which you can get from the HP support website for free. Here we have drafted certain steps that will help you reinstall the drivers on your system in case your HP printer says driver is unavailable. Here are the steps:

  • 1- Press the Windows and R keys together to open the Run dialog box.
  • 2- Type devmgmt.msc and hit enter to open the Device Manager on the system.
  • 3- From the list of options select ‘Print Queue’ that has been mentioning the HP printer model.
  • 4- Locate your HP printer model and right-click to Uninstall.
  • 5- Download the latest version of the HP printer driver in your system and proceed to install it.
  • 6- If you find it difficult to install the latest version of the drivers, click on the Start button and type ‘Update’ in the search box.
  • 7- A window will appear that gives the range of options regarding the update related to Windows or device drivers.
  • 8- Select ‘Check for updates’ from the list of options available.
  • There would be an update available for your HP printer’s driver. Once you click on that, the Windows will start the update process as you will see all the on-screen instructions running by the screen.
  • Once the process is completed, reboot your computer and try the printing task again.

Such issues can arise on any HP model. For example, if your HP envy 4520 printer driver is unavailable, you have to follow the same steps as mentioned above. But, in case, if you continue to experience the same issue, then you can try the next method.

Method 2

The Driver is Unavailable for HP Printer on Windows 10? Check for the Latest Update

The other resolution to the ‘HP Printer driver is unavailable’ issue is Windows updates that we usually skip at times. It creates bugs, mainly in the printer driver, thus making it incompatible with your operating system. When you assign any print job, it troubles your printer with the driver is unavailable HP printer on Windows 10.

Meanwhile, you can manually update your system’s operating system by following these steps:


  • 1- Press the Window button on your keyboard. A ‘Start’ screen will appear.
  • 2- Click on the search icon. Type ‘Update’ in the field box and hit Enter.
  • 3- A new window pops up that contains the list of pending updates available on the system that you may have skipped.
  • 4- Click ‘Check for update’ and it will take you to the PC settings windows.
  • 5- Under the Windows Update section, it tells pending updates, if any.
  • 6- Click on the update button to install the latest update.
  • 7- Once done, restart your system to resume the printing task.

The aforementioned methods are quite effective to solve these common “driver is unavailable on HP printer” issues

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On: 2023-02-24 09:36:09.727 http://jobhop.co.uk/blog/13387/how-to-deal-with-hp-printer-troubleshooting-for-common-error