Read time 6 minutes
When talking about safety and security of data during email communication, users prefer to use Outlook. MS Outlook provides excellent features for composing, sending or receiving email messages. It has a secure network to safeguard your important data. Not only you can compose, send or receive email messages, but you can also print crucial data by connecting Outlook with a supported printer.. Most of the Outlook users are dissatisfied as Outlook lacks with printing options. Some common issues related to printing in Outlook includes:
“Printer unavailable”
“Problem with the selected printer”
Seeing these errors can be really annoying for a user especially when working on an urgent task or on a tight schedule. In this guide we’ll learn how to troubleshoot printing problems in different MS Outlook versions but first let’s go through the reasons leading to this issue.
Reasons behind Outlook printing problems
There are many printing issues that users face while printing any message of Outlook. Some of the most common reasons causing printing problems in different MS Outlook versions are outlined below:
- Corrupted Outlook profile: Sometimes, issues with Outlook profile like corruption or damage can affect printing.
- Incorrect printer settings: There can be instances where your printer settings are incorrectly configured.
- Outdated printer driver: Outdated or incompatible printer driver may lead to issues with printing.
- File format: It is also a possibility that the file format is not compatible with your printer.
Solutions of Outlook printing problems in different versions
There are a few solutions listed below that you can try to fix printing problems in different versions of Outlook:
Outlook 2003 and earlier versions
HTML formatted messages in Outlook 2003 and earlier versions use Internet Explorer’s printing engine. However, Internet Explorer’s printing engine provides more printing options, but the problem remains the same as the selection of pages for printing is still not possible.
Try the following solutions to solve the printing issue with Outlook 2003 and earlier versions:
Solution 1. Convert the message to HTML if it is Rich Text or Plain Text. To perform this action, go to Edit, select Edit Message, then Format and then HTML. Once the message is converted to HTML, print it using the normal methods.
Solution 2.When you are using Word as the email editor, click Forward then print the message. Close the message after printing. You can also use View in Browser in older versions and can print the message from the browser.
Outlook 2007
Outlook 2007 supports View in Browser and offers all printing capabilities for web pages. Moreover, the printing of selected pages or text is also possible. But the only problem is that it does not include the header information of the email.
This solution includes converting the email message to HTML format and then opening the message in browser window, and follow these steps:
- Click Other Actions.
- Go to Edit Message. On the Options tab, select Change to HTML.
- Go back to the Message tab, select Other Actions, View in Browser, and then print from the browser.
Outlook 2010
Outlook 2010 prints the message, but the message header is not presented correctly. The header is disorganized, and the whole message looks bad on the page.
The header gets disorganized due to the wrong arrangement of messages on the printing page. You should open the message in the browser. Click the view option in the browser, then print the message without the header. You can also choose the print selection option and select only the required part.
Outlook 2013
You may face printing issues in Outlook 2013, like Outlook may not print the message after installing it on Windows 10. All the remaining applications of MS Office suite are working fine, but Outlook is not able to print the message or a different error message:
‘Cannot print unless an item is selected. Select an item, and then try to print again.’
Cannot print unless an item is selected. Select an item, and then try to print again.
You can apply different methods to rectify the problems for Outlook 2013. The methods are listed below:
Method 1. Check Add-ins
To execute this approach, first run the Outlook application in Safe Mode by running this command in the Run option.
Outlook /safe
- Follow File>Options >Add-ins >COM Add-ins. Click the Go button.
- If there are suspected add-ins listed as checked, then uncheck it
- Restart Outlook again and try to print a message.
- Repeat the same procedure by disabling another add-in. It will give you a clear picture explaining which add-in is causing the issue.
Method 2. Rename Outlprnt file
Outlook puts its print settings in a unique Outlprnt file. If this file is either missing or facing a corruption, then you need to rebuild it by following the steps:
- Go to Start option, point to search, click Files or Folders.
- Type Outlprnt and click search now.
- Select the file, right-click and click Rename.
- Provide a new name to file and the close the search option.
- Restart Outlook and try to print a message.
Outlook 2016
If you are unable to print in Outlook 2016 at Windows 10, then many users have to face the same problem that they are unable to print in Outlook. Whenever you give the print command, it shows the message that ‘Print is not ready’. But the printer is in ready state.
Method 1. Update required drivers
Update the driver by following the steps mentioned below:
In Control Panel, go to the Device Manager, then go to the Printer options, find your printer and select the Update Driver option.
Method 2. Restart Print Spooler service
There is a spooling service which manages the printing services. You can restart the service to clear the file. Here is its process:
- In the Search bar, write the services, and it will open a list of all the windows services.
- In the list, find the Print Spooler and double click it. Choose to Stop it.
- In the Search bar, type ‘%WINDIR%\system32\spool\printers’, then delete the files present in the folder.
- Go to the Services list again and restart the Print Spooler service.
Method 3. Run printing troubleshooting
If you are using the Windows 10 and the status of printer is Offline, and it is unable to communicate with the computer, then you can run some basic troubleshooting steps:
- The first step is to check that the printer is connected through Wi-Fi to your computer. Check the instructions on the printer’s user manual and try to connect via Wi-Fi.
- Turn off the power of the printer for 30 seconds, re-plug the printer, and try to connect with your computer.
- Make the printer the default by following the steps:
Settings>Devices>Printers & Scanners. Choose your printer and click Open Queue. Under the Printer category, select Set As Default Printer. - If there is an ongoing print queue, then you need to clear it by going to Settings, then Devices, and then Printers & Scanners. Choose your Printer and click Open Queue. Choose the document under the Document Name and click Cancel.
Outlook 2019
Sometimes, Outlook 2019 users will not be able to preview and print emails. It can be due to various reasons like outdated print drivers, corrupted Outlook data files, mad many more.
Normally, you will be able to print Outlook items by using File > Print. In case you face issues, Microsoft recommends going through the printer’s manual or visiting the printer manufacturer’s website.
Conclusion
Depending on the version of Outlook, there are different methods to fix Outlook Printing issues. However, if you are facing inaccessibility issues while trying to get a print in Outlook, it is possible that the Outlook PST file is corrupted. In that case, you need to repair the Outlook PST file. You can use Kernel for Outlook PST Repair to resolve the printing problems in different MS Outlook versions. This tool is designed to repair and recover severely corrupted files and save the recovered data in different formats.
