Is a printer connected to your computer running Windows 11/10 or macOS turning off automatically? Does your printer turn off on its own? This guide will tell you how to prevent your printer from switching off on its own.
If a printer turns off automatically, it’s likely because of the auto-off feature. Yes, modern printers ship with a feature called auto-off designed to help save power when the printer is not in use.
What is auto-off in printers?
Auto-off is a power-saving feature available. When the printer is idle for a long time, the printer is turned off automatically to save power. That is, after a pre-defined period of inactivity, the printer is automatically turned off.
Although the feature can save some power, the downside is that you will have to manually switch on the printer again when you need to send a print job.
NOTE: If you want to save the power but do not want the printer to turn off, you can use the sleep mode in the printer. The sleep feature puts your printer into lower-power sleep mode after a specified time of inactivity, and then the printer automatically comes out of sleep mode when you send a job to it.
Turn off the auto-off feature in the HP printer
If your printer has an auto-off feature, then there must be a way to disable the feature as well. All you need is the official printer software from the manufacturer to change the power settings.
If you are using an HP printer, here is how to do that. Even if you are using a printer from any other leading brand, an option should be present to turn off the auto-off feature.
Step 1: Launch the HP Smart app. For those who do not know about the HP Smart app, it is a free printer app from HP for its printers. The app is available for both Windows and macOS. You can get it from Microsoft Store or App Store in macOS.
Step 2: In the HP Smart app, click on the Printer properties button.
Step 3: In the left pane, click Advanced settings.
Step 4: Now, switch to the System tab.
Step 5: Here, in the left pane, click EcoSMART Console.
Step 6: On the right side, select Never from the Auto off/Manual on after drop-down to disable the auto-off feature.
Click on the Apply button.
Ed Textor says
No, you cannot disable sleep mode. Period. Which is a stupid decision on HP’s part since the multifunction printers don’t wake-up fast enough to answer a FAX call. But also, it won’t print from a wireless network connection once sleeping.