How to Connect Phone to Printer: Unpause a Printer and Fix Common Issues

You want to print directly from your phone, or you’re staring at the print queue and wondering how do i unpause my printer when it’s stuck. Mobile printing and printer queue management are two of the most common printer questions, and both have quick solutions once you know where to look. Learning how to connect phone to printer and how to unpause printer issues covers most of the daily friction people encounter with their printers.

Whether you’re asking how do i connect my phone to my printer over WiFi, what makes printer ink and whether you can make it yourself, or simply how to unpause printer so your queued jobs actually print, this guide addresses all of them directly.

How to Connect Phone to Printer: iPhone and Android

Printing from iPhone

iPhone printing uses AirPrint, Apple’s built-in protocol. As long as your printer supports AirPrint (most printers sold since 2012 do), the connection is automatic when both devices are on the same WiFi network.

To print from an iPhone:

1. Open the content you want to print (a document, photo, webpage, or email)
2. Tap the share button (box with arrow pointing up)
3. Scroll down and tap “Print”
4. Tap “Select Printer” and choose your AirPrint printer from the list
5. Set copies, page range, and color settings, then tap “Print”

If no printer appears in the list, verify that your iPhone and printer are on the same WiFi network. Some routers have “AP isolation” enabled that prevents devices on the same network from discovering each other. Disabling AP isolation in the router settings resolves this.

Printing from Android

Android printing goes through the system’s Print Service. Most Android phones include built-in support for many printer brands, and Google’s cloud print infrastructure handles others. The process for how to connect phone to printer on Android:

1. Open the document or image you want to print
2. Tap the share button or use the three-dot menu to find “Print”
3. Select the printer from the dropdown (Android scans your network for compatible printers)
4. Configure print settings and tap the print button

If your printer doesn’t appear, install the manufacturer’s print service plugin from the Play Store (HP Print Service Plugin, Epson Print Enabler, Canon Print Service, etc.). These plugins add native support for their respective hardware.

How Do I Unpause My Printer?

When a printer is paused, jobs stack in the queue without printing. How to unpause printer depends on your operating system:

On Windows:

1. Open Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners
2. Click your printer
3. Click “Open print queue”
4. In the print queue window, click “Printer” in the menu bar
5. If “Pause Printing” has a checkmark, click it to uncheck and resume

On macOS:

1. Open System Settings > Printers & Scanners
2. Select the printer
3. Click “Open Print Queue”
4. If a “Resume” button appears, click it

Printers also pause automatically when they encounter an error condition: low toner warnings, paper jams that haven’t been fully cleared, or a “door open” sensor that’s stuck. Check the printer’s display panel for error messages even after the queue is unpaused, as unresolved errors re-trigger the pause.

How to Make Printer Ink: The Reality

The question of how to make printer ink comes up often, but the honest answer is that home-produced printer ink isn’t practical or cost-effective. Commercial inkjet inks are precision-formulated suspensions with specific viscosity, surface tension, and chemical stability characteristics that allow them to fire through nozzle openings as small as 1 picolitre without clogging.

Attempting to make printer ink at home and use it in a commercial inkjet typically results in permanent nozzle damage from incompatible formulations. Refill kits using third-party ink are a different story: these are professionally formulated inks that match the original specifications closely enough to work in most printers without damage. Bulk refill kits from brands like LD Products, Hiipoo, and MG Chemicals are a legitimate cost-saving option, though they void most manufacturer warranties.

Printer Queue Stuck: Additional Troubleshooting

When jobs are stuck in the queue even after unpausing, the print spooler service may need a restart:

1. Press Win + R, type services.msc, and press Enter
2. Scroll to “Print Spooler” and double-click it
3. Click “Stop,” wait 10 seconds, then click “Start”

After restarting the spooler, delete any stuck jobs in the queue. Stuck jobs with a “Deleting” status that don’t clear are often resolved by this spooler restart procedure.