Why Won’t My Pdf Print? 9 Permanent Fixes

If your PDF document does not print, either your printer is broken or there is a problem with your PDF settings. To print your PDF document, both the printer and the PDF file must meet specific requirements.

We’ll go over a few of the reasons why your PDF isn’t printing, as well as how to fix it, in detail below.

Why can’t I print a PDF?

The first thing you should determine is whether the issue is with the printer or with your pdf file. You may test this by printing any webpage or even a.doc file to see where the problem is.

1. The Printer Is Not Connected to the Device

A faulty wire connection may prevent your PC and printer from communicating. If you have a wireless printer, your PC and printer must be on the same Wi-Fi network. You can also verify that you have chosen the correct printer.

2. Outdated Driver

Failure to update your printer driver may also prevent you from printing your PDF. As a result, you must update the driver of your device on a regular basis.

3. Corrupted PDF file

A PDF file can become corrupted for a variety of reasons, including viruses and incomplete PDF file downloads. A strong magnet near your storage device can also cause it to be damaged, resulting in corrupted files.

4. Locked PDF File

When creating a PDF file, you can choose to lock it. As a result, if you have a locked PDF file, you will be unable to print your documents.

5. Printer Queue

If your printer is already processing multiple files, your PDF may not be printed until all of the other tasks are completed.

The reasons listed above are some of the most common reasons why you can’t print a pdf. Let us now look at what we can do to address these issues.

Fixes for Why You Can’t Print a PDF

If you are unable to print any document, the issue is with the printer. Here are some steps you can take to resolve your printer problem.

1. Set Your Printer as the Default Printer

It may be unable to print your document if you have not set your printer as the default printer. Follow these procedures to make a printer your default printer:

-From the Control Panel, navigate to Devices & Printers.

-Right-click on the printer you want to use and select Set as default printer.

–If your printer displays a green tick mark, you can print the document to see if the fix was successful.

2. Update Your Printer Driver

If your printer isn’t working, you can update the drivers. You can update your driver by going to Control Panel > Device Manager > expanding Printer queues> selecting your printer> right clicking and updating.

After the update is finished, try printing the PDF file to see if it worked.

3. Clear Files That Are Left to Be Printed

Another reason your PDF isn’t printing is that there are already files on the printer’s list that need to be printed. The printer follows the First-In-First-Out policy, which means it prints the first file it receives.

To clear your printer queue, you can follow the following steps.

-Select Device and Printer from the Control Panel.

-Right-click the printer attached to your device and select See What’s Printing.

-Here you will see a list of files that are ready to be printed. Right

-click one of them and select cancel. This removes the files from the printer’s printing list, allowing you to print your file.

4.Clear the Print Spooler

The print spooler is a built-in programme that stores printing tasks on your computer. The steps outlined above may not always be effective when clearing files that have yet to be printed. In that case, you can clear your print spooler by following these steps.

Note: you have to be logged in as an administrator to do these steps.

-Hold down the Windows key and type services. msc

-Look for Print Spooler and double-click it.

-Under the General tab, ensure that the startup type is set to automatic.

-Click the stop button. After the Service Control tab has been closed, click the start button. Following that, click apply and then OK.

Restart your computer and try printing your PDF again.

Troubleshoot Your Printer 

If nothing else works to resolve the printer problem, this is a last resort. In most cases, troubleshooting a device works; Windows can determine exactly what is wrong with the device and provide a solution. Using the steps outlined above, you can troubleshoot a printer.

For Windows 11

-Hold down the Windows key and select Settings.

-Find Troubleshoot and launch the printer troubleshooter. If you cannot locate the printer, select Other troubleshooters. There is a printer troubleshooting option there.

-After the troubleshooter has finished, select the printer that isn’t working properly.

-Click the next button and wait for the troubleshooting to finish.

For Windows 10

-Hold down the Windows key and select Settings.

-Select Update and Security. Then select Troubleshoot.

-Look for Printer and select it.

-Select Run the Troubleshooter.

-Choose the printer that is not functioning properly.

-Select Next and wait for the troubleshooting to finish.

Windows will inform you of the problem with your printer driver and suggest solutions. After you’ve completed the fixes, you can print your PDF file.

If the problem is not with the printer but with something else, try the following solution.

Save as New PDF

This is one of the most straightforward repairs. All you have to do is save the PDF file under a new name or replace the existing one. This will remove some corrupted bits from the file and allow you to print it.

Unlock PDF Files

You can use websites like iLovepdf and Smallpdf to unlock your PDF files. Once on the site, you can upload your locked PDF to obtain the unlocked version.

Fix Corrupted Files

If your files are corrupted, your only option is to recover and print them using third-party software or a web application. Uncorrupted files can be repaired using software and websites such as recovery toolbox, SysInfotools PDF repair, Datanumen PDF repair, and others.

Print PDF as Image

This patch usually works for the majority of customers because it does not print the PDF but rather produces it as an image.

To print a pdf as an image, follow these instructions.

-Open the PDF file in Adobe Acrobat Reader. 

-Press Ctrl + P and select Advanced.

-Tick the Print as image checkbox and click OK. 

-Click the Print button.

However, there is one disadvantage: it can take some time to print. If your PDF document fails to print, the final step of printing it as an image usually works.