Troubleshooting remote printing in LogMeIn Pro

When you experience problems with remote printing, you either have a problem with your local printer or the printer queue is stuck either locally or on your host.

Watch the following video on remote and local printing:

Here's how to clear the print queue locally on your client computer.

Disconnect your remote sessions to host machines and see if you can print locally.

Press the Windows key and search for Printers & Scanners. Select the destination printer (the one that you want to print to), then select Manage.
Select Print Test Page. If the test page printed out, skip to Step 11.

If the test page failed, locally check the printer spoolers to see if anything is stuck in a queue.

Press Windows key + R.
Type services.msc.
Navigate to the Print Spooler service and stop it.
Press Windows key + R again.
Type spool, and open the PRINTERS folder.
Delete all the files in this location.
Navigate back to the Print Spooler Service and start it.
Select Print Test Page.

Note: Should your printing fail, contact your local IT Admin or seek local assistance with the printer setup.
Reconnect your remote session.

What to do next:

Still can't print remotely? You should clear the print queue on the remote host as well. See Clear the print queue on the remote host if a document is stuck

Tip:

Watch the video tutorial of troubleshooting remote printing issues here.
Not sure what the difference is between local and remote printing? See this video.

Clear the print queue on the remote host if a document is stuck

On a Windows PC, clear the print spooler to clean out your queue. You may have to perform these steps both on the host and your client computers.

Important: You must have administrator rights on the host computer to clear the print queue.

Watch the following video on clearing the print spool:

On the remote host, open the Run window by pressing the Windows logo key + R.
In the Run window, type services.msc The Services window is displayed.
Scroll down to Print Spooler.
Right-click Print Spooler and select Stop.
Navigate to C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS and delete all files in the folder.
In the Services window, restart the Print Spooler service by selecting Start in the left pane when Print Spooler is highlighted.

What to do next:

The print spooler queue is now cleared. Print the file again.

Note: If the above solution does not resolve your issue, you can try reinstalling the LogMeIn printer driver as follows:

Open the LogMeIn Control Panel on the remote computer.
Go to Options > Preferences > Advanced tab.
Under Remote Printing, select Reinstall printer driver.

Remote printing stopped working

You have the following options to troubleshoot remote printing: confirm that local printing works, clear the print spooler, or reinstall the printer driver.

Confirm that local printing works

Open a document directly on your local client computer. The client is the computer that you're sitting at.
Test printing directly from the client computer to the client printer.
If printing works, proceed to the next section.
Note: If printing did not work, contact the manufacturer of your printer for further instructions.

Confirm that the printer is listed

Launch Remote Control and open the Devices and Printers list on the host computer. The printer should be listed as <printer name> via LogMeIn.
Note: On Windows 10 computers, open Printers & scanners.
Right-click anywhere in an empty space in this folder and choose View > Details. It may take a few minutes to display the mapped printer.

If the printer is stuck, clear the print queue

Clear the print spooler or print queue both locally and on your remote host as described above. If you still have issues after the print spooler is cleared, try to reinstall the remote printer drivers as follows:

Reinstall the Remote Printer drivers

When taking remote control of a host, on the Remote Control toolbar, select Options.
Under Remote Printing, clear any selected printers.
On the host computer, open the LogMeIn Control Panel.
Select the Options tab, select Preferences.
On the Advanced tab, select Reinstall printer driver.
Select OK.

This will reinstall the printer drivers. You must end your remote control session then take remote control of the host again and under Options > Remote Printing, select the printer to which you want to print. If none of the above resolves the issue, uninstall the host software from the host computer, reboot, then reinstall. This can only be done by someone located physically at the host computer.

Tip:

Watch the video tutorial of troubleshooting remote printing issues here.
Not sure what the difference is between local and remote printing? See this video.

Remote printing disappeared or does not work at all

Check the following items.

Confirm that the client-side printer is working

Check your client-side printer (the one to which you are trying to print). Make sure you can print a test page. If you cannot print locally, you will not be able to print remotely. Resolve any local issues before continuing.

Update your browser

With Internet Explorer remote printing only works with the ActiveX plugin. For best results on Firefox and Chrome, update your browser and install the Client app.

Confirm that you have access to Remote Printing, that it is enabled, and that a printer is selected

If the host software was installed by an administrator or via an Installation Link from LogMeIn Pro, your administrator may have restricted your right to use remote printing.

Here's how to confirm that you have access to Remote Printing, that it is enabled, and that a printer is selected:

On the remote control toolbar, select Options.
Under Remote Printing, confirm that at least one printer is selected (that is, make sure there is a check mark next to at least one printer).
Tip: For easy access to remote printing settings, go to Customize Toolbar > Connection Options > Connect Printer. A printer icon is displayed in the toolbar. You can select the printer icon to see if your printer has been recognized or to change the active printer.
When printing, confirm that you are printing to [Printer Name] via LogMeIn.

Confirm that you are printing to [Printer Name] via LogMeIn

When you send your print job from the host, make sure the correct client-side printer is selected: [Printer Name] via LogMeIn.

Tip:

Watch the video tutorial of troubleshooting remote printing issues here.
Not sure what the difference is between local and remote printing? See this video.

Remote printing output is mirrored

There are multiple ways to resolve this problem, depending on your configuration.

Tip:

Watch the video tutorial of troubleshooting remote printing issues here.
Not sure what the difference is between local and remote printing? See this video.

Turn on Force Bitmap Printing

Before you begin:

Access the host preferences:
- From the remote host computer, open the LogMeIn Control Panel and follow this path: Options > Preferences > AdvancedTo open the LogMeIn Control Panel, open your computer's toolbar at the bottom of your screen and select the LogMeIn icon. Then select LogMeIn Control Panel
- From a client device (such as the logmein.com website, or the desktop client app), connect to the remote host's Main Menu and follow this path: Preferences > Advanced
Under Remote Printing, select Force Bitmap Printing.
Select OK or Apply.
Result: Your settings are applied immediately to the host.
Print the file again.
Result: When bitmap printing is activated, all material printed using remote printing will be 'printed' locally to a bitmap which is then sent to the remote printer. Bitmap printing is slow, but reliable.

Turn off display acceleration

On the client computer, go to Options > Preferences > General.
Clear the Use display accelerator option.
Result: Print the file again.

Change your remote control method to Java

From a client computer, connect to the host Main Menu.
Select the arrow next to Show Detailed Mode (or "classic view") in the top left corner of the menu.
Select the icon to the left of the Remote Control option.
Select Java.

Remote printing output is blank

There are multiple ways to resolve this problem, depending on your configuration.

Change the printer resolution

This procedure may vary depending on your operating system.

On the host, print as you normally would during regular use.
Make sure the client printer is selected in the Print dialog box: [Printer Name] via LogMeIn[Printer Name] via RemotelyAnywhere.
In the Print dialog box, select Preferences.
In the Printing Preferences dialog box, select Advanced.
Change the Resolution to a value less than 1200 dpi.
Save your changes and print again.

Enable Force Bitmap Printing

Access the host preferences:
- From the remote host computer, open the LogMeIn Control Panel and follow this path: Options > Preferences > AdvancedTo open the LogMeIn Control Panel, open your computer's toolbar at the bottom of your screen and select the LogMeIn icon. Then select LogMeIn Control Panel
- From a client device (such as the logmein.com website, or the desktop client app), connect to the remote host's Main Menu and follow this path: Preferences > Advanced
Under Remote Printing, select Force Bitmap Printing.
Select OK or Apply.
Result: Your settings are applied immediately to the host.
Print the file again.
Result: When bitmap printing is activated, all material printed using remote printing will be 'printed' locally to a bitmap which is then sent to the remote printer. Bitmap printing is slow, but reliable.

What to do next:

Still not working? Go to Options > Preferences > General and clear the Use display accelerator option. Print the file again.

Remote printer does not show up on the remote host computer

Follow these steps if you can't see the remote printer on the host computer.

On the Remote Access Toolbar select Customize Toolbar > Connection Options > Connect Printer.
A printer icon is displayed on the black Remote Access Toolbar:

Note: If you see an hourglass next to the printer, the printer is attempting to connect, and you MUST wait for the printer to finalize connecting.
Once the printer is connected to the host machine, search for the available printers in your Windows Systems menu or your Mac System Preferences menu.
Select the destination printer and then select Manage.
Select Print Test Page. If the test page printed out, skip to Step 13.
If the test page failed, locally check the printer spoolers to see if anything is stuck in a queue.
Press Windows Key + R.
Type services.msc.
Navigate to the Print Spooler service and stop it.
Press Windows Key + R again.
Type spool, and open the PRINTERS folder.
Delete all the files in this location.
Navigate back to the Print Spooler Service and start it.
Select Print Test Page.
Note: Should your printing fail, contact your local IT Admin or seek local assistance with the printer setup.
Reconnect your remote session.

Tip:

Watch the video tutorial of troubleshooting remote printing issues here.
Not sure what the difference is between local and remote printing? See this video.

Documents are printing incorrectly

This can happen due to a video or printer driver issue on either end of the connection.

If you are experiencing mirrored printing, please do the following:

Remotely connect to the computer and open the LogMeIn Control Panel by going to Start > All Programs > LogMeIn Control Panel.
Select Options > Preferences > Advanced.
Select the box next to Force Bitmap Printing. You want it to be the opposite of what it had been previously (either checked or unchecked).
Restart the remote session and try printing again.

If this does not work, please do the following:

Remotely connect to the computer and open the LogMeIn Control Panel by going to Start > All Programs > LogMeIn Control Panel.
Select Options > Preferences > General.
Select the box next to Use Display Accelerator. You want it to be the opposite of what it had been previously (either checked or unchecked).
Restart the remote session and try printing again.

If you are still having an issue after adjusting these settings, please contact Support.

Note: Remote printing may not be compatible with all third party programs. Specifically, if you are using a machine with ALOHA, please contact us for further instructions.

Frequently Asked Questions on remote printing

Does Remote Printing work with LogMeIn Antivirus?: If remote printing does not work with your printer, whether it is wired or wireless (WiFi), and you have LogMeIn Antivirus enabled, then it is likely that the firewall portion of LogMeIn Antivirus blocks this functionality. In this case, there is no way to unblock remote printing to a printer. The current workaround is to disable the firewall portion of LogMeIn Antivirus and use a different third-party firewall provider.
Can I print multiple copies of a document using Remote Printing?: Remote Printing allows you to print one copy of a document. If you need to print more than one copy of a document, consider dragging and dropping the file from the host computer to the client computer and printing the desired number of copies in that way.
Can I print a document on my local computer to my host computer's printer?: You can only print a document from your host computer to either your host computer's printer or to your local computer's printer. You may transfer the file from your local computer to your host computer, then send it to the printer at the host computer.
What's the difference between a 'host' and a 'client' computer?: See Understanding the difference between a host and a client.
How do I select my local printer during remote control?: Follow the instructions in the remote printing article.