---
title: Fix printing problems
summary: Find out why a receipt or kitchen ticket did not print, what each message means, and how to reprint without printing twice.
id: fix-printing-problems
type: troubleshooting
audience:
  - cashier
  - manager
areas:
  - printers
since: "2.0"
updatedAt: 2026-11-07T15:47:58.638Z
release: 2.5.0
url: https://help.omviq.com/printers/fix-printing-problems/
markdown: https://help.omviq.com/printers/fix-printing-problems.md
related:
  - set-up-a-printer
  - take-a-payment
  - make-a-sale
  - when-a-payment-does-not-finish
keywords:
  - print failed
  - receipt
  - kitchen ticket
  - reprint
  - POSAgent offline
  - not routed
  - print log
  - tax authority
lang: en
---

# Fix printing problems

When a print cannot complete, Omviq tells you on screen at once. It never fails silently, and it never quietly sends the job to a different printer. This page helps you find the cause, read the message and reprint safely.

## Start here

1. **Read the message** on screen. The table below says what it means.
2. **Check that POSAgent is connected.** Open the status menu in the top bar, or go to **Settings → Hardware & Agent** and look at the **Dashboard** tab.
3. **Check the printer.** Look at its power, paper, cover, and its USB cable or network connection. Go to **Printer Setup**, open the printer's card and tap **Test print**.
4. **Check the Print Log** under **Settings → Printing**. It lists each print with its printer and outcome: **Printed**, **Queued** or **Failed**. Tap a failed entry to see the reason. It tells you whether to retry, switch the printer's modality or check the hardware.
5. **Reprint** from the order or the sale, as described below.

## What the messages mean

| What you see | What to do |
|---|---|
| POSAgent is not connected (agent offline) | Start POSAgent. Check the **Dashboard** tab in **Settings → Hardware & Agent**. |
| A message that the receipt was not routed, or that the Customer station has no printer | Assign a printer to the **Customer** station under **Settings → Kitchen Display → Stations**. A default printer alone is not enough. The message has a one-tap reprint. |
| A device error: the printer cannot be reached | Check the USB or network connection, then use **Test print** on the printer card. |
| The agent is up but no printers are set up | Add a printer in Printer Setup. See [Set up a printer](https://help.omviq.com/printers/set-up-a-printer/). |
| **Kitchen ticket for … not printed yet — the kitchen has not recorded it** | Do nothing. The ticket prints as soon as the kitchen records it. If the dish is urgent, open the kitchen display, find the added item's card and press **Print**. |
| **Kitchen ticket for … not printed — the kitchen service is unreachable** | The ticket prints once the kitchen service is back. Meanwhile, read the order from the kitchen display or the check. |
| **The kitchen recorded these items on more than one ticket, so they may print twice** | Check the kitchen display and make the dish once. |
| **Kitchen ticket for … was not printed at this terminal — this computer's print agent is not registered…** | Register this till in **Settings → Hardware & Agent**. The ticket is queued and has not printed yet. Once the till is registered, it prints its own tickets again. |
| **This sale is still being completed, so its receipt did not print. Tap Reprint in a moment.** | A card payment is still being recorded. Tap **Reprint** in a moment. |
| A message that a receipt did not print, with **Retry** | **Retry** asks for that receipt's own print job again, so a receipt the till prints by itself when the printer returns is never printed twice. |
| A message with no **Retry** that says to reprint from **Transactions** | A reprint is still printing in the background. Reprint it from **Transactions** if it does not come out. |
| The cash drawer does not open | Check the cable between the printer and the drawer, and that **cash drawer** is on in the printer's **Edit** dialog. |

When you add a dish to a check that was already sent, it gets a kitchen ticket of its own, printed from the kitchen's own record of the dish. If the kitchen has not recorded the dish within about ten seconds, the till shows one of the "Kitchen ticket … not printed" messages above. The ticket still prints once the kitchen records it.

## Reprint safely

What you reprint depends on what is loaded on the terminal. Reprinting acts in place: it prints and leaves you exactly where you were.

| Loaded on the terminal | Button | What prints |
|---|---|---|
| An order, sent or paid | **Print Check** | The check, the bill, including the amount still due. |
| A completed sale | **Reprint Receipt** | The customer receipt for that sale. |

- A customer receipt can be reprinted only for a sale that is fully completed and paid.
- **Print receipt** on the **Orders** screen prints the paper that order has. A paid order prints the receipt of the sale that paid it, marked as a reprint. An unpaid order prints its check. A delivery order prints its delivery slip. An order that owes nothing and has no sale, for example one split by seat, merged into another check or closed before any payment, prints nothing, and the screen says why.
- **Print Check** prints the check that fits the order type: a **Guest check** for dine-in, a **Takeout check** with the guest's name and phone, and a **Delivery check** with the guest's name, phone, address and delivery instructions. Once the order is paid, the check says **PAID**.

To reprint a kitchen ticket, open the order from the order list, tap **Reprint KOT**, choose a station (or all), and the ticket prints with a "REPRINT" stamp.

### When a ticket may already have printed

Omviq prints a ticket again on its own only when it knows the first try never reached paper: the printer could not be reached at all, no printer was assigned, or nothing was sent before the attempt timed out. If the printer was reached and then failed part-way, for example a jam, a cable pulled mid-ticket or a reply that never came back, part or all of the ticket may be on the rail already. Printing it again could make the kitchen cook the dish twice.

Such a ticket is never reprinted automatically. It appears in the kitchen display's **Kitchen chits owed** list, marked **May have printed — check the printer**.

1. Check the station's printer and the rail for the ticket.
2. If it is not there, open **Kitchen chits owed** and tap **Reprint** on that ticket. A manager approves the reprint, and exactly one new copy prints with the REPRINT stamp.
3. If it did print, leave it. Nothing prints again on its own.

A guest's check follows the same rule. When a check may already have printed, the till says so and offers a reprint, with the same approval any check reprint asks for, rather than a plain **Retry**.

## Kitchen printers that are offline

If a station's printer cannot be reached when a ticket is sent (a new order, added items or a cancellation), the ticket is not lost. Omviq keeps it and prints it on that station's printer once the printer can be reached again, from any register connected to it. A cancellation ticket prints as a cancellation, under its VOID heading, so the kitchen knows to stop preparing the item.

Automatic printing stops after a few attempts, or four hours after the ticket was sent, whichever comes first. A ticket that old is not printed automatically, because a late order or a late cancellation would only confuse the line. It stays on the order, and you can still reprint it.

On the kitchen display, a ticket card shows **Not printed** while its ticket is still owed, and **Print status unknown** when the display cannot tell either way, for example while it is offline. The count in the display's header covers the whole restaurant. Tap it to see every ticket still owed and reprint any of them. The print log shows the printer's own reason for a failure, so you can tell a printer that is off or has changed address from one that jammed.

The kitchen display's header also tells you when a station's printer has stopped printing.

| What you see | What it means and what to do |
|---|---|
| **"Pizza printer unreachable since 7:42 PM"** | Every ticket sent to that station's printer has failed for at least 15 minutes and nothing has printed there. Check the printer's power, paper, cable or network. |
| **"The Pizza printer has failed for 15 minutes but tickets are being handled on screen"**, with **Switch Pizza to Screen only** | The printer is still failing, but the cooks are using the screen. Tap **Switch Pizza to Screen only** to stop sending paper to a printer nobody is using. Switch it back in **Settings → Kitchen Display → Stations**. |

The switch shows only to staff allowed to change stations. A printer that prints even one ticket clears the alert.

## Receipts and your tax authority

If your business reports sales to a tax authority, a sale is filed when its customer receipt prints, not when payment completes. That makes printing matter for filing.

- Before a receipt prints, the completion screen lists each authority as not filed. Choosing **No Receipt** files nothing. The sale can be printed later from **Transactions**, and that print files it.
- If an authority does not answer, the receipt says so and the sale stands. Print the receipt again when the authority is back. The same invoice is sent again and the receipt then carries its number.
- A reprint of a sale that was already filed sends nothing and prints the same number.
- A receipt shown on screen files nothing, and says so. Its **Print** button files it.
- A merchant copy has no authority section and files nothing.
- A till still running an older version cannot print until it reloads. The cashier sees a message asking them to reload. The sale is safe and files at its first print.

The **Tax filing** page under Reports shows what each day filed, what still waits for a print and what could not be filed.

## When the receipt looks wrong

Receipt layouts are set under **Settings → Receipts**. A few settings change what prints.

| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| **Printed check** | Chooses which check each order type prints. Takeout prints the Takeout Check and Delivery prints the Delivery Check unless you choose otherwise. **Same as default** prints your business's default check. |
| **Receipt Footer** | One line, up to 200 characters, such as a thank-you or your returns policy. It prints on every sale receipt. Save it empty to remove it. |
| **Sale-number barcode** | A barcode of the sale number at the foot of the customer receipt, so a return desk can scan it. It is on until you turn it off. Turning it off also takes the order-number code off delivery slips and order checks. |
| **Time Format** | **12-hour with AM/PM** or **24-hour**, on every printed and digital receipt, in your store's time zone. |
| **Merchant copy for card sales** | Under **Settings → Checkout & Payments → Receipts**. A second paper, **MERCHANT COPY**, with a line to sign, prints when a card sale completes. The customer's receipt is labeled **CUSTOMER COPY**. If the merchant copy does not print, the message offers **Reprint**. |

Changes apply to the very next receipt, on every terminal.

| What you see | What to do |
|---|---|
| The logo does not print | Use a small PNG, no wider than 384 pixels for 80mm paper. |
| A field name in double curly brackets prints instead of its value | The name is misspelled in the template. Check it against the list of available fields. |
| A block is always hidden | Its condition is never true. Check the field and value in the condition. |
| The receipt is too wide or cut off | The template is not designed for 80mm paper. |
| The modifier text is cut off | The modifier name is too long for the paper. Shorten it in the catalog. |
| A kitchen ticket prints at the wrong station | The product's fulfillment center is wrong. Fix it in the catalog settings. |
| A kitchen ticket does not print at all | The printer is offline, or the station is set to kitchen display only. Check the connection and the station's output mode. |
| A cancellation ticket never printed | The printer was offline when the item was voided. It prints automatically once the printer is back, within four hours. After that, reprint it from the order. |

## Related pages

- [Set up a printer](https://help.omviq.com/printers/set-up-a-printer/)
- [Take a payment](https://help.omviq.com/payments/take-a-payment/)
- [Make a sale](https://help.omviq.com/selling/make-a-sale/)
- [When a payment does not finish](https://help.omviq.com/payments/when-a-payment-does-not-finish/)