Suddenly nothing prints - Get "0 document(s) pending" for printing windows 10

Question

The problem started when a relatively new HP printer started giving me erroneous "low paper" error. (I thought is started yesterday the 13th, but now I think it started on August 12 - dates are important because of what I tried, which I will explain later on.) I tried numerous things to address the "low paper" issue, but somewhere along the line I think the "Low Paper" error turned into the "0 document(s) pending" error in the print manager error. When I couldn't resolve the printing problems with the "new" printer, I decided to go back to sending print jobs to a different "older" printer that I had been using successfully prior to the new one. But the "old" one didn't work either and I was definitely getting the "0 document(s) pending" error in the print manager for the older printer. I gave up working on the issue until today (8/14) when I (1) Uninstalled the HP Smart app; (2) Removed BOTH printers from Printer list; (3) Deleted their Printer Drivers from the Print Server Properties list. All of these things were tips I found online for solving these printer problems. Then I reinstalled HP Smart. It could NOT find the "new" printer. It DID find the "old" printer, although there seemed to be some strangeness going on regarding finding drivers, but the printer WAS added to my printer list. But when I tried to print to it, nothing would print and again the "0 document(s) pending" error showed up over the print manager down in the system tray. So I researched some more and found that several years ago a bunch of people had this problem and the solution was to uninstall the latest windows update for them. So I tried uninstalling the windows update that had yesterday's date (8/13) on it (although after the fact I realized that my problems actually started on the 12th), but unfortunately that did NOT solve the problem. Note that later in the evening, the HP Smart app mysteriously "found" the "new" printer once again and I was able to add it to my printer list, but printing to it still resulted in the "0 document(s) pending" error showing up over the print manager down in the system tray. Help! I'm pulling my hair out! I will paste several pictures with explanations below.

This is the print manager error message:

The 8/13/24 update (see 1st & 2nd picture below) is the one I wanted to try to uninstall, but this update isn't exactly what showed up in the list of updates to uninstall (see 3rd picture):

1st picture:

2nd picture:

3rd picture - The highlighted "Update for Microsoft Windows" below is what is listed for 8/13/24 - but the KB number below doesn't match the "Cumulative Update..." KB number listed in the Update History above, and it says nothing about ".NET Framework", but I uninstalled it anyway, which did not solve the problem. Also, since my problems actually started on August 12, I was going to try uninstalling the 8/12/24 update, but apparently you cannot uninstall a Servicing Stack update as the "Uninstall" button disappears when you click on one of the Servicing Stack items:

*** Moved from Windows / Windows 10 / Devices and drivers ***

Answer 1

Hi ReneeVV,

Thanks for choosing Microsoft Community.

You have provided us with an overview of the problem and provided us with screenshots.

I note that you have tried many things to resolve this issue, including uninstalling the driver, reinstalling the HP Smart app, etc. Thank you for your efforts in trying to resolve this issue, and for your patience in telling us how the issue occurred and providing us with the screenshots. Your efforts deserve to be recognized and I do understand the frustration of still having the problem after trying many methods.

Please refer to the steps below to try and troubleshoot.

You can refer to the following link to try to perform a system restore

Use System Restore - Microsoft Support

If you can, please restore your system to before the problem (August 12) occurred.

If you are unable to do a restore via the above method, please disconnect your printer from the computer, then reconnect it to the computer, and then download and install the HP printer driver via the link below, based on your printer's model number or serial number.

https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers

Disclaimer: This is a non-Microsoft website. The page appears to be providing accurate and safe information. Watch out for ads on the site that may advertise products frequently classified as PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the site before you decide to download and install it.

Check to see if the same problem exists after this.

An error in the account configuration file can also cause this issue, please refer to the following link to create a new local administrator account

Manage user accounts in Windows - Microsoft Support

See if you have the same problem with the new local account.

If the problem persists, please contact HP support at the link below and they will be able to provide you with more targeted assistance in this area.

https://support.hp.com/us-en/contact

Disclaimer: Microsoft provides no assurances and/or warranties, implied or otherwise, and is not responsible for the information you receive from the third-party linked sites or any support related to technology.

We hope your issue will be resolved and thank you for your understanding and support.

Best regards,

Zev - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Answer 2

Thanks for your reply. That was the next thing I was actually going to try - using a restore point. I just went to do that and now, unfortunately, there are fewer restore points than before and the "show more restore points" check box is now missing! Below I will paste screen grabs of what it showed yesterday and what it now shows today.

8-14-24

8-15-24

I'll try it anyway with the last one available, but I don't know that it will help.

Answer 3

Using System Restore was not a success. I started the process at 10:30 PM. For 2-1/2 hours it stayed stuck on "initializing" - I resisted the urge to do a hard reboot and at the 2-1/2 hour mark it changed to working on the "registry" - I left it to run ALL NIGHT! 6-1/2 HOURS LATER, at 7:30 in the morning, it said it was restarting!!!! At 7:55 AM it said that it was unsuccessful at restoring, came up with Automatic Repair, then said "Automatic Repair couldn't repair your PC! (I read online TONS of complaints that System Restore almost never works!). Clicking on Advanced Options brought up more multi-layered menus with bunches of options none of which I would have any way of knowing which one might or might not be the best one to do. So I opted for trying the System Restore again, but through this menu route. The restore points didn't match the times of the restore points that showed up yesterday. I picked the latest one on the 12th, instead of the earliest one. It "worked" in so far as it went through the process and successfully rebooted the computer. But the print system still does not work. The "new" printer will now send a print job to the print manager, but it perpetually claims that the printer is Offline, which it is not. The "old" printer continues to not send any jobs to the print manager. (Note, the "old" printer works from a different computer, so it isn't a printer problem, it's this computer and this lousy windows.)

Answer 4

"An error in the account configuration file can also cause this issue, please refer to the following link to create a new local administrator account

Manage user accounts in Windows - Microsoft Support

See if you have the same problem with the new local account."

I don't understand the above either. I made a new user administrator account. Now what? What am I supposed to do with it? How do I change which user is trying to print?

Answer 5

Hi ReneeVV.

Thank you for your reply.

I understand that you were unsuccessful in your attempted system restore and I'm sorry to hear that.

I noticed that you mentioned “Printer is offline”, are you connecting to the printer over the network or directly to a local printer?

Also, as I mentioned earlier about creating a new local account, you can temporarily log out of your account in Windows, then log in with the username and password of your newly created account and try to use the printer in that account. If you don't find the HP Smart app, please download it again.

If you are still having problems, please contact HP support via what I have said in my previous reply and they will be able to provide you with more targeted assistance in this area.

Thank you for your understanding and support.

Best regards,

Zev - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist