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Print preview shows a blank page when printing, problem is random and is fixed with a PC "restart".

  • 3 replies
  • 5 have this problem
  • 186 views
  • Last reply by MGMofTulsa

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Printing results in a grey - print preview, nothing is printed and dialogue box notes that an error occurred while printing. I can do a restart, the problem is fixed for a while, then it starts again. Problem is evident whether printing to a page printer or to ADOBE. I am running Firefox 30.0 on a Windows 7 system. The problem has been occurring for several weeks.

Printing results in a grey - print preview, nothing is printed and dialogue box notes that an error occurred while printing. I can do a restart, the problem is fixed for a while, then it starts again. Problem is evident whether printing to a page printer or to ADOBE. I am running Firefox 30.0 on a Windows 7 system. The problem has been occurring for several weeks.

Chosen solution

It's probably not any faster than restarting Windows, but the next time this happens, could you try clearing the information Firefox has accumulated about your printer in its preferences file? This article has more information about that option: Fix printing problems in Firefox.

Also, if you notice any pattern of events leading up to this problem, that might help unravel the mystery.

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If you cannot see any content on pages you printed or in print preview, the cause might be margins which are set too high.

  1. In order to check the margins, we need to go to File > Page Setup.
  2. Once this is done, switch to the Margins & Header/Footer tab.
  3. Check what's set there under Margins.

The following are the default values for Margins:

Right: 12.7

Top: 12.7

Left: 12.7

Bottom: 12.7

Check these values accordingly and change them if necessary. OR ,

Certain Firefox problems can be solved by performing a Clean reinstall. This means you remove Firefox program files and then reinstall Firefox. Please follow these steps:

Note: You might want to print these steps or view them in another browser.

  1. Download the latest Desktop version of Firefox from http://www.mozilla.org and save the setup file to your computer.
  2. After the download finishes, close all Firefox windows (click Exit from the Firefox or File menu).
  3. Delete the Firefox installation folder, which is located in one of these locations, by default:
    • Windows:
      • C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox
      • C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox
    • Mac: Delete Firefox from the Applications folder.
    • Linux: If you installed Firefox with the distro-based package manager, you should use the same way to uninstall it - see Install Firefox on Linux. If you downloaded and installed the binary package from the Firefox download page, simply remove the folder firefox in your home directory.
  4. Now, go ahead and reinstall Firefox:
    1. Double-click the downloaded installation file and go through the steps of the installation wizard.
    2. Once the wizard is finished, choose to directly open Firefox after clicking the Finish button.

More information about reinstalling Firefox can be found here.

WARNING:Do not use a third party uninstaller as part of this process. Doing so could permanently delete your Firefox profile data, including but not limited to, extensions, cache, cookies, bookmarks, personal settings and saved passwords. These cannot be easily recovered unless they have been backed up to an external device! See Back up and restore information in Firefox profiles.

Please report back to say if this helped you!

Thank you.

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Chosen Solution

It's probably not any faster than restarting Windows, but the next time this happens, could you try clearing the information Firefox has accumulated about your printer in its preferences file? This article has more information about that option: Fix printing problems in Firefox.

Also, if you notice any pattern of events leading up to this problem, that might help unravel the mystery.

more options

To jscher2000: I tried your solution, then held my breath and waited. I have not had another incident, so I guess it worked. Thank you.