Guide · printer fix

Paper out

This one is not a guess: the printer read its own paper sensor and told the EasyKOT Desktop App the roll is finished. Printing pauses, the waiting tickets stay in the queue, and everything prints in order the moment a new roll goes in. Nothing needs re-sending.

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Whatever the printer does, the sale is already saved: the Desktop App writes the bill to its own database first and queues the paper second. The full symptom table covers the rest.

Most likely cause

The roll is finished, or the paper is not sitting under the head.

The roll ran out. The ordinary case, and the one the sensor is for. Thermal rolls end quietly: there is no noise to warn a busy counter.
The paper is in but not under the sensor. A roll dropped into the well at an angle, or a last few centimetres that have curled away from the head, reads as empty because as far as the printer can see, it is.

The fix

Do this first.

Load a new roll, thermal side to the print head

Drop the roll in so the paper feeds off the underside and out towards you, which is how nearly every counter-top receipt printer takes it. If you are unsure which face is printable, scratch the paper with a fingernail: the side that leaves a dark mark is the one that must touch the head.

Close the cover until it clicks

A lid that is a millimetre open leaves the printer refusing to print and reporting “Cover open” instead. Pull a few centimetres of paper out through the slot before you close it, so the roll cannot slip back out of the head's way.

Watch the queue drain — there is nothing to press

Settings → Printers & KDS lists the tickets that were waiting. Ones still inside their 5-minute window print in order the moment the printer reports itself ready; took longer, and Print on the row sends it.

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In the Desktop App

What the printer's row says.

Every printer you have added has a row in Settings → Printers & KDS, and the row carries its own status in words rather than a green dot. These are the exact words for this one.

While it is wrong: “Paper out”, with the line “Load a new roll, thermal side to the head.” Printing is paused while it lasts: the Desktop App holds the tickets rather than throwing them at a printer that cannot print them.
Once it is fixed: “Connected”. Tickets still inside their 5-minute window print in order on their own; anything older needs Print.

This state comes from the printer, not from a timer or a guess: the Desktop App asks for the paper sensor's own answer and reports exactly what comes back. That is why it can pause the queue confidently instead of burning retry attempts.

Check Counter Printer panel: Power & network, Cover and Language all Pass, but Health reads 'Needs attention — Paper out. Load a new roll, thermal side to the head' and Test slip reads 'Not tested — Fix the paper or cover first.' Below, a Paper out card gives the likely cause and the fix, with a QR code to the full guide at easykot.com/en/guides/printer-paper-out.

Check printer catches a paper-out roll on its own: the guided-fix card and QR code lead straight back to this page.

The Counter Printer row in Settings → Printers & KDS reading Connected, with Check printer, Test print, Test connection, Edit and Remove beneath it.

The row once the new roll is in: Connected, nothing else to press.

Nothing is lost

Printing what was missed.

A pause is not a failure. Tickets held during a paper-out keep their place. Load the roll within 5 minutes and they print themselves; any longer and they need a tap of Print. Nothing is dropped, and nothing needs re-firing from the order.
The sale was never at risk. The bill is written to the Desktop App's own database before anything is queued to print, so an empty roll can only ever delay a piece of paper.
Reprint by hand if you want it now. Settings → Printers & KDS has Reprint last receipt and Reprint last KOT, and failed tickets offer Retry now; older tickets offer Print.

Straight answers

Paper out — the questions that follow.

Do I get a warning before the roll runs out?

On a printer that reports its near-end sensor, yes, the row reads “Paper running low” with the line “Keep a roll ready.” Some printers do not report it and go straight to “Paper out”. And a printer that answers nothing at all sits on “Can't verify — will still try to print”, where an empty roll is only visible on the paper.

Why did the Desktop App stop printing instead of just failing?

Because it knows why. A printer that has reported paper out will refuse every job until the roll is changed, so retrying would only spend attempts for no reason; pausing avoids that. But each ticket's own 5-minute clock keeps running regardless — load the roll within that and they still print themselves; any longer and they will have already stopped, waiting for a tap of Print.

The roll is loaded and it still says Paper out.

Reseat it. A roll sitting at an angle, or a stub too short to reach the sensor, reads as empty. If a full, correctly seated roll still reports out, the sensor itself may be dusty: switch the printer off, wipe the paper path with a dry cloth, and try again.

Every printer guide is listed on the guides hub.

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