How to Check the Printer Status in Windows
By Kathryn Hatashita-Lee
When you want to know your printer status on your Windows operating system, access the Devices and Printers list. Windows provides a data table for your print queue and displays categories such as Document Name, Status, Owner, Pages and Size. This table includes printer and document commands to enable your printer to pause, restart or cancel this printing queue. Viewing this printer table will help you see what files are still waiting to print and to stop a specific print job, if necessary.
Right-click the printer icon on your taskbar to expand the menu. If this printer icon is not displayed, press the “Windows” key and then type “Devices and printers" (without quotes). Click or tap “Settings” in the Search pane to bring up the search list.
Click “Devices and Printers” to open the list of devices in sections, such as Printers.
Click your printer icon in the Printers section to view the printer thumbnail image and data. For example, the data may show the remaining number of documents in the printer queue.
Click “Display Print/FAX Queue” or “[ ] documents) in queue.” Click to select your printer in the drop-down list, and then click “OK,” if applicable. View a table with categories such as Document Name, Status and Pages. This data will help you assess what documents are pending.
Tips
Right-click in the table’s "Document Name" column to open the list of actions, and then click or tap “Pause,” “Restart” or “Cancel.”
Click your country’s link in the "Support & Service" section to access the manufacturer’s website for more details about your specific printer.
Warnings
Information in this article applies to Windows 8 Pro. It may vary slightly or significantly with other versions or products.