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6 Ways to Fix Printer That is Printing ASCII Characters
From unreadable to readable in a few steps
4 min. read
Published onAugust 20, 2024
published onAugust 20, 2024
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When your printer is printing ASCII characters instead of the print job you’ve sent, something must be off with your settings.
ASCII is a standard format used between printers and computers that ensures the commands sent to your printer are interpreted and translated to visual text you can understand.
Your printer may print ASCII characters instead of normal readable text if you’ve recently configured your printer settings, have outdated drivers, or your printer firmware is out-of-date.
It is also possible that you’re printing from an application that requires special ASCII character handling or the software itself has compatibility issues with your printer.
How can I fix my printer printing ASCII characters?
1. Run the Printer troubleshooter
2. Update your printer software
3. Update the Printer drivers
4. Run your printer’s maintenance tool
Most printers have their own maintenance and troubleshooting tool but if it doesn’t, move on to the next solution.
5. Cancel the print job and reset the printer
Cancelling a print joband resetting your printer to default settings will allow you to start in a clean slate. If there were any misconfigured settings, they’ll be deleted.
6. Uninstall and reinstall your printer
In another similar situation, you may also find that yourprinter is printing gibberishbut rest assured we’ve already tackled how to bypass this too.
Hopefully, your printer is back to printing normal and readable visual text and not ASCII characters anymore. Should the issue persist, contact your printer’s manufacturer and see if they have any additional solutions.
That’s all from us but do let us know if you have any other solutions not mentioned here. Feel free to share them with us in the comment section below.
More about the topics:Printer,Printer Errors
Claire Moraa
Windows Software Expert
Claire has a knack for solving problems and improving the quality of life for those around her. She’s driven by rationality, curiosity, and simplicity, and always eager to learn more about Microsoft’s products. With a background in teaching and reviewing, she breaks down complex topics into easily understandable articles, focusing mostly on Windows 11, errors, and software.
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Claire Moraa
Windows Software Expert
With a background in teaching and reviewing, she breaks down complex topics into easily understandable articles, focusing mostly on Windows 11 errors.
