Thermal Receipt Printer Not Printing

Thermal Receipt Printer Not Printing

If your receipts are not printing, below are a few quick troubleshooting steps you can take to narrow down the source of the problem.

Print a Windows Test Page

  1. Click the start menu in Windows and type 'control' on your keyboard. 
  2. Click the Control Panel app.
  3. Select Devices and Printers. Depending on your version of windows, you may have to first change the View by option to Small Icons before this option appears.
  4. Find your receipt printer in the list of printers. Right-click it and choose Printer Properties.
  5. Click Print Test Page.
If a test page successfully printed from your receipt printer, then the cause of your problems is most likely your Retailer settings. Firstly, try closing Retailer and opening it again.
If restarting Retailer did not help. click HERE to set up your receipt printer settings, and HERE for report mapping settings.
If your receipt printer does not appear in Devices and Printers, it may not be installed.
For installing an Epson TM-T88, click HERE.
To install an Epson TM-T82, click HERE. 
If your receipt printer appears in Devices and Printers but is greyed out, double check the cables in the receipt printer are tightly plugged in at both ends. Unplug the connection to the PC and plug it back in.

Restart the Windows Print Controller

If your printer appears in Devices and Printers but does not print a test page, try these steps:

  1. Open the Windows Task Manager by clicking the start menu and typing 'task manager'.
  2. Right click the Task Manager app and choose Run as Administrator.
  3. Click on the Services tab. Depending on your version of Windows, you may need to first click More Details.
  4. Find Spooler in the list of services. Right-click it and choose Stop.
  5. Right-click it again and choose Start.
  6. Try to print a receipt again.

Perform a Self Test

If your printer still does not respond, try these steps:

  1. Turn the printer off. While it is off, make sure all the cables are firmly plugged in to both the receipt printer and your PC. There is also a detachable connection on the AC adapter, located halfway between the receipt printer and the electrical socket; make sure this is also firmly connected.
  2. While the printer is still off, hold down the Feed button.
  3. Turn the printer back on while your finger is still on the Feed button. A test page should print.
  4. Let go of the Feed button the quickly press it once more to produce a second, shorter test page.
  5. Turn off the printer and turn it on again.
If your printer does not produce a self test page, there may be something physically preventing it from printing. Make sure the receipt roll is correctly loaded and there are no foreign object blocking the page.

Network Printers - IP Address

The following steps apply only to receipt printers that are not connected to a pc via USB, but are instead connected directly to your network via a network cable. If your printer is directly connected to your PC, do not follow the steps below.

  1. Perform the self test as described above. The self test page should contain an IP address, which is four numbers separated by 3 decimals eg. IP:192.168.1.20
  2. Navigate to the printer properties of your receipt printer, where you attempted to print a test page in the first section of this article.
  3. Click the Ports tab and click Add port.
  4. Choose Standard TCP/IP Port and click New Port...
  5. Click Next, then enter the IP address from the test page in the Printer Name or IP Address section. The port name should fill in automatically.
  6. Click Next & Finish, then try printing a test page again.
If your self-test page did not have an IP address on it, your printer may not be connected to your network. Double check the network cables and try restarting your router. Note that restarting your router will prevent you from accessing the internet or using Retailer until it reboots, which can typically take 2-3 minutes.

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