The printer prints hieroglyphs instead of text: find and troubleshoot

Often, users of printing devices are faced with a problem when hieroglyphs appear instead of text when printing a text document. People who do not understand anything in printers, of course, are immediately sent to the warranty center. But in order to solve this problem, you don’t need to be a specialist at all - you just need to carefully read the likely ways that can help resolve this situation.

The printer prints hieroglyphs: reasons

All the reasons leading to printing crashes can be divided into three main groups:

1. Problems in the hardware of the direct printing device.
2. Ink cartridge problems or ink misfeeds (CISS).
3. Incorrect installation or configuration of the printer in the OS, as well as other software malfunctions.

The last group is the easiest to diagnose and fix problems directly by the user. They can be solved in approximately 95% of cases.

The reasons that are associated with the cartridges cannot be solved all the time by yourself, but if finances allow, you can simply purchase another cartridge.

Problems in the hardware are most often solved with standard malfunctions, such as cable breaks, paper jams. But there may be more serious reasons that require a trip to the service.

How to find and troubleshoot

The solutions described below are very simple, since they will not require serious actions, but there are quite a few reasons. And you can do without going to the repair shop.

Reboot

If the device began to print hieroglyphs, then the reboot must be performed first. Turn off the PC and printer, and then turn on after a short period of time.

This is probably a minor breakdown that can be solved with this simple method. If this does not help, then you need to consider other possible options.

Using other software

Most often, incomprehensible text instead of Russian characters appears when printed using MS Word. You may try to print the document with other software.

You need to re-save the text and open it with AdobeReader or Foxit Reader. You can also print in a browser, for example, Internet Explorer or Chrome.

Printout image

You can try to print a picture instead of a text document. Why is it necessary:

1. Run the program used to send the document to the device.
2. Find the "Advanced" menu.
3. Click "Print as picture", check the box.

The device will now print a text document as a picture. Hieroglyphs instead of Russian letters, most likely, will not be visible.

Change font

The reason sometimes is the font. The device does not recognize it, but prints hieroglyphs instead of letters. You can try just installing a different font. Moreover, this often helps if not a standard font (for example, Times New Roman) is used, but another.

You can also try this option: disable CourierNew stand:

1. On the control panel, find the menu with the equipment.
2. Select an idle printer.
3. Click the "Printer Properties" button, go to the "Printer Settings" menu.
4. Find the font substitution and click "Do Not Substitute."

System files

Sometimes the reason is in the system files. After their recovery, this can help fix the problem:

1. First you need to open the command panel as administrator. Enter “sfc / scannow” in it and click “OK”.
2. Wait a certain time. Then check if the problem has been resolved.

Driver Installation

Not infrequently, this malfunction occurs due to drivers. The device displays hieroglyphs, because the drivers are not installed correctly or give a failure. Therefore, you can try to reinstall them. For what:

1. In the "Control Panel" you need to go to the menu "Equipment and Sound" and find the faulty printer.
2. After clicking RMB, select “Delete device”.
3. In “Programs and components”, you must delete all programs that relate to the operation of the device.
4. Then find the drive that should come with the equipment. Reinstall the required programs from it.

If for some reason the disk is not available, Windows 7 or a version older than most often suggests installing the required drivers on your own if you reconnect the device to the PC. If this does not help, then you can find the official website of the manufacturer and download the required programs.

Malware

It is necessary to check the PC using antivirus. The problem may lie in this.

These are the main reasons why the printer prints hieroglyphs, and how to solve them. Usually these simple actions are quite enough, since this malfunction can either appear or disappear on its own.