Looking for Printer Error

[Aragornii]

I have a regular problem where when I go to print from my laptop to the shared printer on my home network, it gets stuck on "looking for printer". I delete the printer and re-add it on my laptop, then it works fine. next time I want to print I'll have to go through the same process. Other users in the household have the same issue.

Is there something I can change to fix this?

 

[HDFan]

What printer?

How is it connected to your network?

 

[Artiste212]

Some printers seem to drop off the network from time to time. Turning them off and restarting the printer helps, in my situation. Give this a try if you haven't already done so.

 

[bogdanw]

Some printers sleep. You probably have to disable the sleep function, if possible, from the printer's settings.

 

[Ifti]

I used to have this when the printer was wirelessly connected to the network. It was more so when trying to scan a document.

I simply connected the printer to the network via ethernet. All my client devices are still wireless - never had an issue ever since.

 

[Ifti]

Some printers sleep. You probably have to disable the sleep function, if possible, from the printer's settings.

Shouldn't make a difference. As soon as a print job is sent it should automatically wake the printer - this is how mine works.

 

[BrianBaughn]

After using my Canon MF8380cdw for years with the printer added as an IP printer (not Bonjour) my new Mac Studio suddenly cannot find it that way. I've added it via Bonjour now…but I've had problems with Bonjour and this printer in the past so who knows what's next.

 

[Aragornii]

Mine is set up using whatever automatic default settings come up. The printer is connected to the home network via wifi, and on any given Mac I select it when it appears and add using the default settings. all of the computers have the same problem where it needs to be deleted and re-added periodically.

 

[HDFan]

Is the printer configured with a static IP address, or does it use DNS?

 

[appltech]

On your router's side tinker with association/binding/address reservation for your printer (static IP address using printer's MAC address)

Or increase IP leasing time so connected devices won't change their IP. But in this case, you'll need to disable the printer sleep/standby feature