If you try to print on your Canon printer occasionally, an error message can appear. The printer is being used by another PC. Typically, this error appears if you attempt to use the print command while the printer is already printing.
You will have this problem on a local printer as well as a network printer the majority of the time.
It is challenging to determine the exact source of this error message, however, factors including a jammed print queue, a non-functioning print spooler service, or driver problems may be to blame. In these situations, you can use a few simple fixes to solve the problem.
1. Clear the Queue
The print queue is typically the cause of this problem, and clearing the print queue typically fixes it.
As a result, if the printer is shared, you can inspect the print queue to see what other computers are printing and eliminate undesirable and unsuccessful print jobs from the queue.
The print tasks must be finished before you can proceed if you are utilizing a network printer.
- Open Control Panel > View devices and printers.
- Right-click the printer and choose to See what sprinting.
- Click Printer > Cancel All Documents.
This article on how to remove stuck print jobs from a queue might be used if you are having trouble emptying the backlog.
2. Restart the Print Spooler
A computer’s print spooler is a service that handles all issues with printers and print jobs.
Any printer problems may always be resolved right away by restarting the print spooler service.
It typically also resolves the issue that says “Another computer is using the printer.”
- Type Command Prompt in the Windows search box and then launch it as administrator.
- Copy-paste these commands and hit Enter after each of them.
net stop spooler
net start spooler
exit
- Try printing a document then. You should not face an issue.
3. Troubleshoot Printer
Your Windows computer’s built-in printer troubleshooter can help identify printer issues and resolve them, such as freeing up stuck print jobs and resetting the printer to default settings.
- Open the Control Panel and click View devices and printers.
- Right-click the problematic printer and select Troubleshoot.
- Wait for a while till the troubleshooter diagnoses the problem.
- The troubleshooter has now fixed the issue.
4. Sign Out of Other User Accounts
If your computer has numerous user accounts, you can get an error notice when one of the user accounts tries to access the printer. As a result, you must log out of other user accounts before trying to use the printer from your primary account.
- Hit the Ctrl + Shift + Esc shortcut keys on your keyboard to open Task Manager.
- Go to the Users tab.
- Right-click the user account other than your main account and click Sign off.
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5. Reinstall Printer Driver
To prevent any sort of printing issues, you should always install an official driver package offered by the manufacturer of your printer. However, if you continue to experience problems after having the official drivers loaded, I advise that you reinstall the drivers to fix the problem.
- Open Settings.
- Go to Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners.
- Click Add device > Add manually.
- Choose the last option. Then click Next.
- Choose the port of your printer. It is USB for wired printers and WSD for wireless printers. If you are using any other ports, choose accordingly.
- Click Next.
- Select the printer driver and click Next.
- Check Replace the current driver option and click Next. It will reinstall the driver.
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6. Configure WSD Timeout
When multiple devices send print requests over the network, the later requests are added to the print queue and remain there until the first print request is processed.
The WSD timeout specifies how long a device will continue to wait for a response from the printer before giving up. Your print job will not run and you will receive the error message Another computer is using the printer if the printer does not react within that time-out period.
So, raising the WSD timeout duration will assist prevent this error message if there are many devices on the network that need to print. Please be aware, though, that extending the WSD time-out may attract new problems, so it’s important to choose the right amount of time.
Let’s look at how to set the Canon MX922 printer’s WSD timeout duration.
- Tap the Menu button on your printer.
- Select Setup. Go to
- Device settings.
- Navigate to the right to open LAN settings.
- Open Other settings > WSD settings.
- Select the Timeout settings and specify a time higher than the earlier value.