How to Fix Canon Printer Driver Issues on Windows 10 & Mac

Driver issues on Windows and Mac are probably the most misunderstood Canon printer problems. People assume something is physically wrong with the printer but in reality, the printer is completely fine. It is the driver that is broken. And it still powers on and shows up in your devices list. So it doesn't seem like a software problem until you spend an hour trying to figure out why nothing is printing.

A driver is a very important part of a printer that allows computer and printer to communicate with each other. In simple words, you can say that it converts digital files to physical instructions which we get in the form of print.

But when it becomes outdated or gets corrupted, the communication breaks down. The printer becomes in an idle state and does nothing. If you understand how printer functions, you might find canon printer driver is unavailable because it is not receiving instructions it can understand. In this article, we will address Canon printer driver issues on Windows 10 & Mac that ensure smooth running of the printer.

How Do You Know If Canon Printer Driver Has a Problem

There are a few specific signs that point to the driver that you must know before trying to fix Canon printer driver issues. The first sign is that your Canon printer is showing in the list of devices. But the problem is that it is not printing when you put paper and try to print. It happens because driver is unavailable in the Canon printer or maybe it has some issues.

You may have already tried to fix the problem by removing and reinstalling the printer but it did not work. These are clear signs that your canon printer has driver problems. Not connection problems, not hardware problems.

How to Fix Canon Printer Driver Issues: Top 5 Ways

Canon printer driver issues are indeed very serious ones if not fixed early. Below, we have discussed the most common problems your printer might be facing. You will also find the 

Fix 1: Uninstall the Driver Completely and Start Fresh

This is the most reliable fix for driver issues and it works in most cases. A corrupted driver will keep causing the same problem even after restarts. So removing it entirely and putting in a clean copy is the right move.

On Windows 10:

Right click the Start button and open Device Manager. Find your Canon printer under Printers, right-click it and select Uninstall device. You will see a small box that says "delete the driver software for this device." Click on it to check it, then confirm. After it is removed, open Canon's website and search for your printer model. Download the driver for Windows 10. Run it and wait for it to finish. Then try to print.

On Mac:

Uninstalling a driver on Mac is relatively easy and you can find it directly under Settings where you can see Printers and Scanners. Now among the options, click on your Canon printer and press the small minus button to remove it so it will not show in your printers.

Then how to solve it? The direct and easy way is to go to the official website of Canon and find your printer model. Once you get your model, now you can download it for your Mac driver. After adding the driver, the next step is to add printer again and test if it is printing correctly.

Fix 2: Update the Driver Instead of Reinstalling

In the previous step, you tried to uninstall and reinstall the driver but what do you do if issue is still not resolved? The right way is to update the driver instead of installing a new version. the issue was still not solved. Then the problem is not with the current version of driver but it is happening due to the old version of driver. Before you try any other big fixing, it is recommended to update the driver by following the below steps depending on your system.

On Windows 10:

Right click Start and open Device Manager. Find your Canon printer, right click and select Update driver. Pick the option to search automatically. This step helps you to miss a driver update because the next time windows automatically finds the newer version and installs it as well.

To successfully update the driver, you need to restart your computer and test the printer if it is now working properly. However, it is still possible that your printer may not select the recent updated driver. If things are not working properly, you need to contact Canon printer online support as they have a team of experts and better know the issue.

On Mac:

Mac handles most printer driver updates through system updates. Go to system settings and check software updates. First, check for any updates and install them. This might fix your printer. If that doesn't work, visit Canon's website and find the right driver for your printer and your Mac. Download it and give it a try.

Fix 3: When a System Update Breaks the Driver

This is a rare situation when everything looks fixed but the printer still does not respond or is showing the driver is unavailable. This may be due to your system, printer, and driver not properly handling the communication. The below given fix might work but it is also recommended to check if there are any printer paper stuck or jam issues.

On Windows 10:

For the Windows problem, you need to visit the Canon support page. Check if there is a driver update for your printer available. If it is available, you will have to install it again in the same process as we discussed in Fix 1 above.

On Mac:

Current version of the printer driver on your Canon version may not be working on Mac and it is a very common reason. To ensure the correct version, you need to check Canon website. Confirm if you have downloaded the right version that matches the current MacOS.

Mac handles most printer driver updates through system updates. Go to system settings and check software updates first. Look for any available updates first, and if those update, try your printer again to see if it now works. If no updates were found go to the Canon website to see if they have a driver that supports your printer model with the version of macOS that you’re running. If there is an updated driver, download it and install it.

Fix 4: Clear the Print Spooler Before Reinstalling

This one applies to Windows 10. The print spooler manages the queue of print jobs on your computer. When a driver installation fails or gets corrupted, the spooler sometimes holds onto that broken data. Even after you reinstall the driver, the leftover spooler data causes the same issues to keep coming back. Clearing it before reinstalling makes sure you are actually starting clean.

On Windows 10:

For those who aren't IT professionals, the following is how to clear the print spooler. Keep in mind, it needs to be done prior to reinstalling the driver (uninstall as mentioned above).

On your Windows device, press the Windows key and R at the same time. You will see a command prompt on the bottom left side. In the typing space, type services.msc and hit Enter. In a new popup, you can see the list of various services. From this list, select Print Spooler, right click it and select Stop. Now open File Explorer where you can see C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS.

Remove all files from the folder but make sure you don't remove the folder. Now, back to services.msc, right click the Print Spooler and then restart the printer. Perform the following in the final step to reinstall the Canon driver and test the printer.

On Mac:

Now, you need to understand the functioning of printers on Mac and it is different than on Windows. Also, its spooler does not work in the same way as it does in Windows. Mac does not use a print spooler the same way Windows does. Though it is not a direct way, removing the printer from Mac is the most powerful way to work it properly. You can remove it from settings and under printers and scanners. Once removed, again add it to your Mac device and restart; it will be fixed.

Fix 5: Use Canon's Diagnostic Tool

Canon has its own software for finding and fixing printer problems. It is built specifically for Canon printers. So it picks up on issues that general Windows or Mac troubleshooting tools miss.

On Windows 10:

Download My Printer from Canon's official website for your printer model. Run it and follow what it tells you. It checks the driver, the connection and the print settings and fixes most standard issues automatically without you needing to go into system settings manually.

On Mac:

Download Canon IJ Printer Utility from Canon's website. Open it after installing and run a check on your printer. It covers the same ground as My Printer and handles most common driver and configuration issues on its own.

What to Do When Driver Issue Still Not Solved

Going through five fixes and still ending up with the same error is frustrating. At that point the problem has usually gone deeper than a standard driver reinstall can reach. Registry errors from failed installations, conflicts from multiple driver versions sitting on the same system, or changes from a major OS update that a new driver alone cannot undo are all situations where manual troubleshooting tends to run out of road.

PrinterIThelp handles exactly these kinds of cases. Their technicians connect to your system remotely and work through the issue directly instead of sending you a list of things to try. They cover Canon printer driver problems on both Windows 10 and Mac and most issues get resolved in one session. Their remote support service means you do not have to take the printer anywhere or spend more time going through the same steps again.

Conclusion

Canon printer driver issues on Windows 10 and Mac are most common and can be easily solved without any technical background. The very straightforward solution is to uninstall the drive and get the new version from the official site and install again. The other solution is to clear the print spooler on Windows if the first fix does not work. Also, you can use Canon's own diagnostic tool that can identify the issue and recommend the possible solution.

If nothing is working, it is highly advised to take online printer support from PrinterITHelp. We offer remote support for Canon driver issues on both Windows and Mac. Our services are simple and straightforward and we deal with the various types of printer issues including online and offline related ones.