Epson Stopped Printing
Symptom: an Epson receipt printer printed once, then nothing. The printer looks healthy: its light is on, it has paper, and a self-test from its own buttons prints. Restart it before you try anything else.
Restart the printer
- Switch the printer off, or unplug it.
- Wait about ten seconds, then switch it on and wait for its light to settle.
- Print again:
- During setup: in the setup panel, press Try again.
- Printer already added: go to Settings → Printing and press Test Print on its row. See Change a printer later.
- At checkout: check nothing printed first, then press Print Receipt again. A receipt that did print would come out twice.
A restart clears a held job. If it prints now, you're done. If not, what happened tells you which check below to try.
If restarting doesn't help, or it stops again
A restart clears the hold, not whatever caused it. Match what you see:
It works after a restart, then sticks again
Check Epson Secure Printing. It's on by default on Epsons built for the EU or UK since August 2025, and other new Epsons can have it too. If it's already off, go to Still stuck?.
A restart changes nothing, but the printer's web page opens
Check Server Direct Print. This setting on the printer can stop every receipt printing while the printer's web page still opens, and restarting doesn't change it.
The first receipt is fine, later ones are gibberish
This is usually the printer's memory not keeping up with images, not a hold. In Still not printing?, say the test page came out garbled, then pick The first receipt is fine, then later ones turn to gibberish.
It's a Bluetooth printer
Bluetooth printers stop answering for other reasons. See Pairing a Bluetooth receipt printer.
What the app shows
- Setting up a printer: the panel says Nothing printed and one line under it. If the printer was already refusing jobs when the app found it, the line is "The printer is holding jobs. Turn it off and on again, then try again." If it went quiet after the first page, the line is usually "The printer did not answer. Check it is on and connected, then try again."
- At checkout: the receipt doesn't come out. If receipts print by themselves after each sale, the till shows PRINT101 (automatic printing didn't start). When you press Print Receipt yourself, it shows PRINT301 (it couldn't reach the printer) or PRINT201 (it couldn't confirm the print).
Why it happens
How a held job blocks the printer
An Epson can take a job and then hold it instead of printing it. It doesn't reject the job or show an error. While it holds that one job, it refuses every other job, from any till and on any connection, including the app's test page.
The best-known cause is Secure Printing: an Epson with it on takes a job sent over an unencrypted connection, holds it for a few minutes, then throws it away. Other holds have been seen with no cause found yet.
The hold sometimes clears by itself after a few minutes, and sometimes lasts for hours. That's why a printer can look fine, act as if it's dead, and then start working again while you're still looking for the cause.
A restart clears the hold straight away. If nothing prints after a restart, or it stops again, follow the checks in If restarting doesn't help.
Only the stuck printer stops. Other printers on the same till keep printing their receipts.
Still stuck?
Press Copy setup report and paste it into your message to us. It's on the Nothing printed panel, and in the More actions menu on the printer's row in Settings → Printing. It lists what the app tried and what the printer answered.