(Solved 2023) Fix HP Smart “Printer status unknown” issue.

(Author) Emily

1 month ago

Question:- Hi, I have a new HP Envy 6000 series printer with Windows 10. Everything was fine, but my HP smart app suddenly showed me a yellow box that said “printer status unknown” message. I am also using the instant ink program, so due to this “printer status unknown” message, I can’t check my ink levels and can’t scan from the app.

In conclusion, I can’t get my HP Smart application to communicate with my printer. HP Smart says, “Printer Status Unknown.” I ran HP Smart Diagnose & fix, and it says, “Diagnose complete, and no issues were found.” Tried restarting the printer, computer, and router. I uninstall the printer entirely and reinstalled it again. Tried everything to fix this “Printer Status Unknown” problem, but nothing worked for me. I need help to fix this issue.

Why is printer status unknown in HP Smart?

HP Smart App is an online printer application that adds multiple printers to your computer with all the loaded features like scanning, printing documents, checking ink levels, and much more. However, it becomes difficult for the user to access all these features if HP smart app says, “Printer Status Unknown.” If you see this message on HP smart app, you can’t scan, print, or check ink levels on the application. We have noticed that whenever there are any windows updates on the computer, either HP printers lose connection or stop scanning from HP Smart App.

Many of us don’t know why HP Smart says printer status unknown. There could be many reasons behind this problem. The most common reasons are printer firmware is out of date, any of our security or antivirus programs block the HP smart app from reading the printer status, and the widespread reason is drivers not installed correctly.

Fix HP Smart App “Printer status Unknown” message in Windows 10 and 11.

Update printer firmware.
Reset HP Smart App.
Disable Antivirus or security program.
Reinstall the printer driver.

1) Update HP Printer Firmware: If you are getting an unknown Printer status message in the HP smart app, you must update the printer firmware from the HP official site. This should fix the problem; if it doesn’t, move to the next step.

2) Reset HP Smart Application on Windows 10: In this step, we have to reset the HP smart app on windows 10 or 11 computers.

Go to Settings in Windows 10 or 11.
Now click on Apps and select HP Smart.
Right-click on HP Smart and click Advanced options.
Click on the Reset button.
Now close all the open windows and open HP Smart again.
Again Add the printer in the HP Smart app.
This will fix the printer status unknown message in HP Printer.

If it doesn’t help, move to the next step.

3) Disable Antivirus or security program: It is recommended by HP technicians to disable any antivirus or security program temporarily on the windows computer to fix this printer status unknown issue in HP Smart.

4)Uninstall and Reinstall the HP printer driver: This is the last step to fix this printer status unknown message in HP smart App.

In Windows, search for and open Programs and features.
Select your HP Printer.
Select Uninstall.
In Windows, search for and open Devices and printers.
In the Devices and Printers windows, look for your HP printer. If you see it listed, right-click on it and choose ‘Delete’ or ‘Remove Device.’
Open up the run command with the “Windows key + R” key combo.
Type printui.exe /s and click Ok. (Note: there is a space in between “printui.exe” and “/s”).
Click on the “Drivers” tab.
Look for an HP Printer driver. If you see it Click on it and click Remove at the bottom.
Select Apply and Ok on the Print Server Properties windows
Close Devices and Printers.
Open up the run command with the “Windows key + R” key combo.
Type c:/programdata and click Ok. Go to the HP folder, and remove any printer-related folders & files.
Restart the computer.

Fix HP Smart says “Printer status unknown” on Mac.

If you use any HP printer like HP Envy 6000, HP Envy 4500, HP Deskjet 4100 or HP Officejet 9010, HP Officejet 8710 with HP smart on Mac OS. If it is not showing your printer status, you can fix this “printer status unknown” message in Mac OS by following these easy steps.

Firstly, hard reboot the printer by unplugging the power cable from the back of it.
Open HP smart app, and select your HP printer.
From the top menu bar, click on printers.
Click on Diagnose & fix option.
Now select Start to diagnose the issue.
If this doesn’t help, then delete the printer from HP smart App.
Add the printer again in the HP Smart app.
This will fix the printer status unknown message.

Note:- If you need more help you can chat with the support team or call HP support.

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