Printer Printing Random Symbols or Nonsense Text? Here’s How to Fix It Fast

You expect a clean document with the text you wrote in Word, but instead, your printer spits out pages filled with:

• random characters
• symbols
• long strings of code
• partial text mixed with gibberish
• endless blank pages with a single strange mark

This issue is surprisingly common, and the cause is almost always the same:

your computer and printer aren’t speaking the same “language.”

Here’s what that means and how to fix it quickly.

If your printer is spewing pages of nonsense, stop it before it wastes an entire ream of paper.

• Open Control Panel → Devices and Printers
• Right-click your printer → See what’s printing
• Click Printer → Cancel All Documents

• System Settings → Printers & Scanners
• Select printer → Open Print Queue
• Cancel any active jobs

Once the queue is clear, power cycle the printer (turn it off, unplug it for 10 seconds, plug it back in and turn it on again).

Garbage output often happens because your computer is using:

• the wrong driver
• a generic driver
• an outdated driver
• a corrupted driver

This is especially common after major OS updates.

Download and install the latest driver directly from the manufacturer’s website.

Advanced: If there are both PCL and PostScript drivers offered on the manufacturer official support site, try the opposite of what you’re using now. The drivers offered can be fairly generic, some printers behave far better with one over the other.

Windows in particular loves creating duplicates:

• Printer
• Printer (Copy 1)
• Printer USB
• Printer Network

Sending a job to the wrong “version” of your printer can confuse the device and result in nonsense output.

Delete any duplicates and set the correct one as default.

Sometimes a single bad file triggers pages of gibberish.

Try printing:

• a PDF
• a simple text file
• a built-in test page

If these print correctly, the document you were printing is the issue — not the printer.

Export it as a PDF and retry.

If the print system is confused, it can send garbled data to the printer.

Press Win + R , type services.msc

Scroll to Print Spooler

Right-click → Restart

Try printing again.

Interruption mid-transmission can corrupt the data sent to the printer.

• Try a different USB cable
• Switch USB ports
• Improve Wi-Fi signal or reconnect the printer
• Avoid sending large print jobs over weak Wi-Fi

Even a tiny dropout can result in garbage output.

Some printers have known firmware bugs causing random characters until patched.

Go to your printer’s settings or app and check for firmware updates.

Important:

Make sure the printer stays powered and connected during an update.

Firmware interruptions can brick some printer models.

If this problem happens more than once, the underlying cause is usually:

• a failing formatter board
• corrupted firmware
• incompatible drivers after OS updates
• unstable wireless cards
• internal memory errors

These issues tend to show up in older printers, especially ones that sit unused for long stretches.

Unfortunately, in some cases the fix costs more than the printer is worth.

With Have It Printed , your document prints cleanly the first time — on commercial-grade hardware with consistent output and zero driver conflicts.

Upload your file, and we’ll print it, mail it, and send tracking. No random symbols. No wasted paper.