A printer does not appear in BizPrint

This page helps when a printer is missing from your station in the BizPrint dashboard, or from the Printers box when you edit a printer location in WooCommerce. It is for merchants and staff who print with the BizPrint desktop app or the BizPrint Android app.

You never add a printer in the dashboard. The BizPrint desktop app reports every printer installed on the computer each time it connects. The BizPrint Android app reports the printers you add in the app. The printers then appear under their station in the dashboard, and in the Printers box of the BizPrint plugin for WooCommerce.

The station shows no printers at all

Symptom: The station’s page in the dashboard shows There are no active printers connected to this station yet.

Cause: No BizPrint app has connected with this station’s keys yet, or the app connected but had no printers to report. On a computer, no printer is installed. On Android, no printer has been added, or every printer added is not finished.

Fix: Check the app first:

1. Open the BizPrint app on the computer or Android device that should print.
2. Check that it is connected. The desktop app shows Successfully Connected. The Android app shows your station name and Connected at the top of its main screen.
3. Connect it to this station, if it is not connected. See Connect the BizPrint desktop app to your station or Install and connect the BizPrint Android app to your station.
4. Add a printer. See Add a printer to the BizPrint desktop app or Add a printer to the BizPrint Android app.
5. Open the station’s page in the dashboard again.
6. Check the Printers list.

A printer you just installed on the computer is missing

Symptom: You installed a printer on the computer, but it does not appear under the desktop station in the dashboard.

Cause: The desktop app reports the computer’s printers when it connects. A printer installed after the app connected is not reported until the app connects again.

Fix: Restart the desktop app. When a station reconnects, BizPrint can send it print jobs that are still pending, and they print automatically. This happens when Archive offline print jobs is off. Before you restart or reconnect, check the printer for printouts, check job statuses in the BizPrint dashboard, and do not reprint anything that is still pending. See Choose what happens to BizPrint print jobs when a station is offline.

1. Check that the printer shows in your computer’s own printer list.
2. Print a test page from the computer’s own printer settings.
3. Look at your printers for printouts, and check the status of recent jobs in the dashboard.
4. Find the BizPrint icon in the system tray (the menu bar on a Mac).
5. Open the icon’s menu.
6. Click Exit.
7. Open the BizPrint desktop app again.
8. Check the station’s Printers list in the dashboard.

Restarting the app can print jobs that were waiting for the station. Before you reprint anything afterwards, check all of these, so you do not print an order twice:

1. Look at the printer for the printout.
2. Check the status of each print job in the dashboard.
3. Wait for the station to finish anything it is still printing, whatever status the job shows.
4. Go to WooCommerce > Print Manager in WordPress, if the order came from WooCommerce.
5. Click the Support tab.
6. Check Queue Status in Print Job Queue.
7. Wait for any pending or processing jobs to finish.

Do not print anything again while its job is still pending, connecting-to-printer or processing.

The printer was renamed on the computer

Symptom: After you renamed a printer on the computer, or installed it again under a different name, the dashboard lists it twice, or your printer location still shows the old one as (offline).

Cause: BizPrint recognizes a desktop printer by the name the computer gives it. A printer with a new name counts as a new printer. The old entry stays, as offline, and your printer locations still point to it. A printer installed again under the same name on the same station stays the same printer in BizPrint, so nothing changes for it.

Fix: Select the new printer in each printer location that used the old one. See Replace a printer on the same BizPrint station. Do not reprint old jobs from the dashboard to reach it: a reprint goes to the printer the job was first sent to. Before you print a missing order again, check all of these:

1. Look at the printer for the printout.
2. Check the status of each print job in the dashboard.
3. Wait for the station to finish anything it is still printing, whatever status the job shows.
4. Go to WooCommerce > Print Manager in WordPress, if the order came from WooCommerce.
5. Click the Support tab.
6. Check Queue Status in Print Job Queue.
7. Wait for any pending or processing jobs to finish.

Do not print anything again while its job is still pending, connecting-to-printer or processing.

Then print the order again from the order screen in WooCommerce, if it still has not printed.

An Android printer is not finished

Symptom: On the Android app’s main screen, a printer under Printers shows Not finished. Open it to add what’s missing., and it does not appear in the dashboard.

Cause: The Android app sends a printer to BizPrint only when its settings are complete. For example, it needs a name, plus an IP address for a network printer or a paired printer for a Bluetooth printer.

Fix: Finish the printer’s setup:

1. Open the BizPrint Android app.
2. Tap the printer under Printers. The Finish printer setup screen opens.
3. Fill in what is missing, such as Name, IP address or Paired printer.
4. Tap Save.
5. Check the station’s Printers list in the dashboard.

For the full steps, see Add a printer to the BizPrint Android app.

An Android printer was deleted and added again

Symptom: You deleted a printer in the Android app and added it again. It appears in the dashboard, but your printer location does not print to it.

Cause: Each printer you add in the Android app is a new printer for BizPrint, even with the same name. When you delete a printer in the app, it is removed from the station.

Fix: Select the printer again in each printer location that used it. See Replace a printer on the same BizPrint station. Do not reprint old jobs from the dashboard to reach it: a reprint goes to the printer the job was first sent to. Before you print a missing order again, check all of these:

1. Look at the printer for the printout.
2. Check the status of each print job in the dashboard.
3. Wait for the station to finish anything it is still printing, whatever status the job shows.
4. Go to WooCommerce > Print Manager in WordPress, if the order came from WooCommerce.
5. Click the Support tab.
6. Check Queue Status in Print Job Queue.
7. Wait for any pending or processing jobs to finish.

Do not print anything again while its job is still pending, connecting-to-printer or processing.

Then print the order again from the order screen in WooCommerce, if it still has not printed.

Printers come and go when the same station is used on two devices

Symptom: A printer appears in the dashboard, then shows as offline or disappears, and comes back later.

Cause: The same station keys are used on two computers or Android devices. Each device reports its own printers for the station, and the printers of the other device are marked offline or removed.

Fix: Use each station on one device only:

1. Create a separate station for each extra computer or Android device that prints. See Create a station in the BizPrint dashboard.
2. Connect each device to its own station.
3. Select the right printers in your printer locations.

The Printers box in WooCommerce is empty

Symptom: When you edit a printer location in Print Manager, the Printers box has no printers to choose, although your station shows printers in the dashboard.

Cause: The plugin could not get your printer list from BizPrint. Either the plugin has no keys saved, or your store could not connect to BizPrint at that moment.

Fix: Check the keys, then the connection:

1. Go to WooCommerce > Print Manager in WordPress.
2. Open the Application tab.
3. Check that the Public Key and Secret Key fields are filled in with the keys of your store’s application.
4. Enter the keys, if the fields are empty. See Connect the BizPrint plugin for WooCommerce to your BizPrint account.
5. Open the Printers tab.
6. Click the name of the printer location in the Description column.
7. Check the Printers box.

If the box is still empty, your store may not be able to connect to BizPrint. Your website must be able to connect to the internet. See WooCommerce print requests to BizPrint time out or fail to connect, or contact BizPrint support.

A printer is missing from the Printers box in WooCommerce

Symptom: The Printers box lists some printers, but not the one you want, although it shows in the dashboard.

Cause: One of these:

• The printer’s station belongs to a different BizSwoop account. The plugin lists the printers of every station in the account that owns your store’s application, and no others.
• Your store’s application was created with a Platform other than WordPress. The plugin may then not get all of your account’s printers.

Fix: Check the application:

1. Sign in to the BizPrint dashboard with the account that owns the station.
2. Click Applications in the menu.
3. Check that your store’s application is in the My Applications list.
4. Click your store’s application.
5. Check that Platform shows WordPress.
6. Contact BizPrint support, if Platform is not WordPress.

If the station is in a different account, move printing to the account that owns your store’s application:

1. Sign in to the BizPrint dashboard with the account that owns your store’s application.
2. Create a station in that account. See Create a station in the BizPrint dashboard.
3. Connect the BizPrint app to that station instead. BizPrint lists the station’s printers as new printers.
4. Go to WooCommerce > Print Manager in WordPress.
5. Open the Printers tab.
6. Click the name of the printer location in the Description column.
7. Select the new station’s printers in the Printers box.
8. Click Save Changes.
9. Repeat steps 5 to 8 for every printer location that should print to these printers.

The printer shows as offline in WooCommerce

Symptom: The Printers box lists the printer with (offline) after its name.

Cause: The last time the station connected, it did not report this printer. This happens when the printer was removed or renamed on the computer, or removed from the Android app. The (online) and (offline) labels change only when the station connects, so they do not tell you whether the computer or Android device is on right now. A printer can still show (online) while its station is turned off, or while the printer itself is off or unplugged.

Fix: Make sure the station has the printer, then let it report its printers again. When a station reconnects, BizPrint can send it print jobs that are still pending, and they print automatically. This happens when Archive offline print jobs is off. Before you restart or reconnect, check the printer for printouts, check job statuses in the BizPrint dashboard, and do not reprint anything that is still pending. See Choose what happens to BizPrint print jobs when a station is offline.

1. Check that the printer is still installed on the computer, or still listed under Printers on the Android app’s main screen.
2. Install or add the printer again, if it is missing. A printer with a new name, or one added again in the Android app, is a new printer in BizPrint: see The printer was renamed on the computer or An Android printer was deleted and added again.
3. Look at your printers for printouts, and check the status of recent jobs in the dashboard.
4. Click Exit in the BizPrint icon’s menu, if the station is a computer.
5. Open the app again.
6. Check that the app shows it is connected.

The status shows (online) again the next time you open the printer location, if the station reported the printer.

Related pages

• Add a printer to the BizPrint desktop app
• Replace a printer on the same BizPrint station
• Manage stations and their printers in the BizPrint dashboard
• BizPrint print jobs are stuck, archived or not printing

Still stuck? Contact BizPrint support at https://getbizprint.com/support/.