This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

Can't print from Firefox - "Printer Error- An unknown error occured while printing"

  • 5 replies
  • 51 have this problem
  • 5 views
  • Last reply by WinSum666

more options

I am unable to print anything from Firefox! I am using Firefox 19.0.2.

I performed a "Reset To Default State" for Firefox yesterday to fix some performance issues. Those issues are resolved, but now I can't print!

I am able to print to 'Microsoft XPS Document Writer' and save as an .xps file. But I am unable to actually print to my HP LaserJet printer.

Here are the steps I have taken trying to resolve the printing issue-

I opened the prefs.js file in WordPad and removed all entries beginning with 'print'. (When it did not resolve the issue, I restored the prefs.js file with a backup)

I downloaded and installed the latest driver for my printer from HP.

Still unable to print from Firefox after taking those steps. Note that I am able to print from any program other than Firefox.

What steps can I take to fix this issue?

I am unable to print anything from Firefox! I am using Firefox 19.0.2. I performed a "Reset To Default State" for Firefox yesterday to fix some performance issues. Those issues are resolved, but now I can't print! I am able to print to 'Microsoft XPS Document Writer' and save as an .xps file. But I am unable to actually print to my HP LaserJet printer. Here are the steps I have taken trying to resolve the printing issue- I opened the prefs.js file in WordPad and removed all entries beginning with 'print'. (When it did not resolve the issue, I restored the prefs.js file with a backup) I downloaded and installed the latest driver for my printer from HP. Still unable to print from Firefox after taking those steps. Note that I am able to print from any program other than Firefox. What steps can I take to fix this issue?

All Replies (5)

more options
more options

For those who get the same printer error in Firefox "An unknown error occurred while printing" , make sure to try the "reset" button for FireFox. I had the same message but I tried the reset button and it worked for me.

more options

Trying to print a web-page to the XPS printer - Getting this error message: 'an error occured while printing'

I have 2 computers, each is running a newly installed Windows 7 OS and each has Firefox v23.0.

One system works fine, I can print an XPS with no problems. My other system is the one that was giving me the error message: 'an error occured while printing'.

This was driving me crazy, two systems, essentially identical (same OS and same browser).

I remembered, that, I had enabled The Windows UAC... I disabled the UAC and the problem went away! No more problem.

I'm not sure why UAC is blocking the XPS printing (probably do to it's coming from the web) so I'll have to investigate further. Until, then, I'm able to print XPS with no printer errors!

This may help others with a similar problem - try disabling your UAC, if it's enabled and you are getting the same printer error message.

more options

This is a recurring problem, when I need to print some thing I use PALE MOON BROWSER. I have never had this problem before. My suggestion is; always have a second browser just in case there is a difficult situation. Suzanne.

more options

@sklein65 I thank you for your reply. My problem occurred when trying to print to the XPS printer, I found, that, if I disabled the UAC, the problem went away. You may want to give this a try. You can access you UAC by entering 'UAC' in the Window's Search Box. I had an additional problem with my 'Pinned' websites becoming unusable, I traced this down to Firefox version 24 (beta channel). I reverted back to v23.0 and I never had the problem, again. Note, that, all versions of v23.0 worked, the problem occurred when v24 was installed. I disabled all auto updating in Firefox.