iOS & AirPrint troubleshooting expert helping fix printing stuck at Preparing

Joe B.

Expert ★★★★★ 27,853 satisfied customers

Specialities: iOS & iPadOS printing issues, AirPrint jobs stuck on “Preparing”, iPhone/iPad print spool reset, Wi-Fi printer setup, router & Bonjour discovery problems

Fix iOS printing stops at “Preparing” — AirPrint stuck, iPhone print queue, spool reset steps

Technician avatar Technician
Hi! We can definitely sort out your iOS printing stuck on “Preparing” so your iPhone or iPad actually sends the job to the printer.

On iOS, that “Preparing…” line is where AirPrint builds the print file and hands it to the printer over Wi-Fi. When it never moves past that step, it usually means the AirPrint spool / queue is jammed or the printer can’t finish the handshake.

To get a clear picture, could you tell me:
• Which device and version are you using (for example iPhone 15 on iOS 18 or iPadOS 17)?
• Printer brand/model (HP, Canon, Epson, Brother, etc.) and whether it’s on Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, or Ethernet?
• Does every app hang at “Preparing” (Mail, Safari, Photos, Files) or only one app like Chrome or a bank app?
• Can other devices (a Mac, Windows PC, or another iPhone) print to the same printer without getting stuck on “Preparing”?

Once I know that, I’ll walk you through a proper iOS print spool reset: clearing the iPhone print queue, power-cycling the printer and router, and making sure AirPrint sees the printer as “ready” again.
Customer
I’m on an iPhone 15 Pro with iOS 18. The printer is an HP OfficeJet on the same Wi-Fi network. It shows up as an AirPrint printer in the list. When I print from Mail, Safari, or Files, I pick the printer and then it just says “Preparing…” for a long time. Sometimes it disappears, sometimes it just sits there. Nothing ever comes out. My MacBook and my partner’s iPhone can still print to this printer, so it seems like just my phone is stuck.
Technician avatar Technician
Thanks, that’s really useful detail. The fact that other devices can print tells us the printer itself and basic AirPrint support are OK. The “stops at Preparing” part is almost always on the iOS side of the AirPrint spool or a weird Wi-Fi/Bonjour issue for that one device.

Common reasons an iPhone print job is stuck on Preparing:
• The hidden iOS print center queue has a corrupt job that never cleared.
• The iPhone can see the printer name, but can’t finish the AirPrint handshake over Wi-Fi (multicast/Bonjour glitch, VPN, guest network, etc.).
• A large PDF or image is triggering a bug in the AirPrint path for that printer firmware or a third-party print helper app.
• iOS got updated, but the printer or its AirPrint firmware is still on something older and becomes “slow to respond”, so the job sits on “Preparing”.

The good news: we can almost always fix this by doing a proper spool reset for AirPrint — clearing jobs from Print Center, rebooting the printer and router in the right order, and re-establishing the Wi-Fi connection from your iPhone.
Customer
That sounds exactly like what’s happening. I did try restarting my iPhone once and also turned the printer off and back on, but nothing changed. I don’t see any obvious queue on the phone, just that “Preparing” message. I’m not using a VPN and the phone is on the same Wi-Fi as everything else. If there’s a proper way to reset the iOS print queue and get AirPrint unstuck, I’m happy to follow it step by step.
Technician avatar Technician
Perfect — let’s start with the hidden queue and a clean spool reset on iOS.

Step A — Check and clear the iOS print queue (Print Center)
1) While a job is “Preparing…”, swipe up from the bottom and pause (or use the side-button gesture) to open the App Switcher.
2) Look for an app called Print Center — it only appears while there’s an active print job.
3) Tap Print Center. If you see your job listed as Preparing, Printing, or Queued, tap it and then tap Cancel Printing to clear it.
4) If you see several stuck jobs, cancel all of them so the iOS AirPrint spool is empty.

Step B — Force close the source app
• Go back to the App Switcher and swipe the app you were printing from (Mail, Safari, Files, etc.) off the top to force close it.
• Reopen the app and try printing a very small test page first (like a short email or a one-page note) to see if “Preparing” now moves to “Printing”.

Let me know if you’re still getting stuck on “Preparing” after clearing Print Center — then we’ll go deeper and reset the printer & Wi-Fi stack that AirPrint uses.
Customer
I didn’t know about Print Center before. I started a print, got “Preparing…”, then opened the App Switcher and saw Print Center with a job in there. I canceled that job and a couple of old ones. Then I force-closed Mail and tried a tiny email. It still sat on “Preparing” for like 20 seconds and then vanished. Nothing printed. So it looks like the iPhone print spooler is still unhappy even with an empty queue.
Technician avatar Technician
Great job getting into Print Center — that confirms the iOS printing stops at Preparing even with a cleared queue, so the next suspect is the AirPrint connection over Wi-Fi.

Step C — Hard reset the printer and router in the right order
1) On the printer, cancel any jobs and then turn it off completely. If it has a power cable, unplug it for 30–60 seconds so its own print spool and AirPrint service restart cleanly.
2) Unplug your Wi-Fi router for 30 seconds, then plug it back in and wait until the Wi-Fi network is fully up.
3) Turn the printer back on and let it reconnect to the same Wi-Fi network as your iPhone (not a guest network). Give it a minute or two to register with Bonjour/AirPrint.
4) On your iPhone, toggle Wi-Fi off and on in Control Center, then reconnect to that same network.

Step D — Try a basic AirPrint test job
1) Open Photos or Safari and choose something small (a single photo or a simple web page).
2) Tap Share → Print, select your printer again, and watch the status: does it still stay on “Preparing”, or does it now briefly say “Preparing” then move on to “Printing”?

This sequence is basically a full AirPrint spool reset for both the iPhone and the printer. If the issue is network discovery or a stale connection, this often fixes “Preparing” hangs immediately.
Customer
I followed that exactly: powered down the HP, rebooted the router, then turned the printer back on and waited. The printer shows it’s connected to the same Wi-Fi as my phone. After toggling Wi-Fi on the iPhone, I tried printing a single photo from Photos. This time “Preparing” showed for maybe 5 seconds and then it actually printed. When I tried a multi-page PDF from Files, it went back to hanging on “Preparing” and then disappearing. So small AirPrint jobs are working, but bigger ones still get stuck.
Technician avatar Technician
That’s really telling: after the spool reset, small jobs print, but larger ones still stall at “Preparing”. That points to how AirPrint handles bigger PDFs or complex documents on that specific printer/firmware combo.

Let’s tackle both the network stability and how the document is sent:

Step E — Stabilize the Wi-Fi path for AirPrint
• Make sure your iPhone is on the main Wi-Fi (no guest network, no VPN, no “Private Relay” profile that might block local discovery).
• Move the printer a bit closer to the router if it’s far away or through walls — weak Wi-Fi can make AirPrint jobs time out during the “Preparing” stage.
• If your router has an “AP isolation” or “client isolation” feature, make sure it’s off on the network you’re using so the iPhone can talk directly to the printer.

Step F — Try a different app path for the same PDF
• If the PDF is in a cloud app (Gmail/Drive/Dropbox), first save it into the Files app and then print from Apple’s Files → Share → Print. This uses the native iOS printing path.
• If you have the HP or Canon companion app installed, try their “Print from iPhone” option — it sometimes handles large PDFs better than a pure AirPrint job, but our goal is to get both working.

Once you’ve tried that, we’ll add a deeper iOS-side spool reset: temporarily disconnecting and reconnecting your Wi-Fi on the iPhone and, if needed, resetting just network settings to clear any stale AirPrint routes.
Customer
I’m definitely on the main Wi-Fi, no guest network or VPN. I moved the printer a bit closer and the signal looks better. When I saved the problem PDF to Files and printed from there, it still got stuck on “Preparing” the first time, but on the second attempt it printed. It feels like the AirPrint job queue is really flaky. Smaller stuff works almost every time now, but big files are hit or miss. I haven’t done a network settings reset on the iPhone yet.
Technician avatar Technician
Understood — we’ve improved things, but not fully eliminated the iOS printing stops at “Preparing” issue for heavy jobs. Let’s tighten it up with two more steps: a true spool/network reset on iOS and a quick firmware check on the printer.

Step G — Reset iOS network stack (lightweight spool reset)
1) On your iPhone, go to Settings → General → Transfer or Reset → Reset.
2) Tap Reset Network Settings (this forgets Wi-Fi passwords and network settings, but doesn’t touch your data).
3) The phone will reboot. Reconnect to your main Wi-Fi and make sure you can access the internet.
4) Start a new print test: small email → then the larger PDF again. Watch if “Preparing” now moves smoothly into “Printing”.

Step H — Make sure the printer firmware and AirPrint are up to date
• On the printer’s control panel or web interface, look for a Firmware Update or Web Services section and install any available updates (HP, Canon, Epson, and Brother regularly patch AirPrint bugs).
• Confirm that AirPrint is enabled and that the printer lists itself with a stable IP on your network.

Combined, this is what people usually mean by an “AirPrint spool reset”: clear iOS print jobs, reboot all devices in order, refresh Wi-Fi routes, and make sure the printer isn’t running buggy firmware that stalls big jobs at “Preparing”.
Customer
I went ahead and did the Reset Network Settings on my iPhone, rejoined Wi-Fi, and then updated the HP firmware from its web page. After that, small jobs print instantly. I tried the big PDF that was always getting stuck on “Preparing” and it printed on the first try. I repeated it a couple of times from Mail and Files, and so far everything is going through without hanging. It seems like the iOS AirPrint spool is finally behaving, I’m just nervous it might come back.
Technician avatar Technician
That’s exactly what we want to see — after a full spool reset + firmware update, “Preparing” shows briefly and then the job actually prints.

A few habits will greatly reduce the chances of iOS printing stopping at Preparing again:

• Every so often, especially after iOS or router updates, power-cycle the printer and router so AirPrint starts fresh.
• Avoid printing huge PDFs straight from a browser if they glitch; instead, save them to Files → Share → Print which uses the most stable iOS print path.
• If a job hangs, open Print Center, cancel everything, and then force-close the app before trying again — this is a quick local iOS spool reset.
• Keep printer firmware reasonably up to date, especially on HP/Canon models that list AirPrint fixes in their release notes.
• Make sure your iPhone stays on the main Wi-Fi network (no VPN, no guest SSID) when you print, so AirPrint discovery is reliable.

Follow that and your iPhone or iPad print jobs should spend only a couple of seconds on “Preparing” before the printer wakes up and starts pulling paper.
Customer
This is really clear, thank you. I understand now that “Preparing” is basically the AirPrint spooler building the job, and that clearing Print Center, rebooting the printer and router, and resetting iOS network settings together act like a full spool reset. Everything is printing normally right now from my iPhone.
Technician avatar Technician
You’re very welcome — I’m glad we got rid of the endless “Preparing…” AirPrint loop for you.

Summary: When iOS printing stops at “Preparing”, the standard fix is:
1) Clear the iOS print queue from Print Center and force-close the app you’re printing from.
2) Power-cycle the printer and router in the right order so AirPrint re-registers cleanly on Wi-Fi.
3) Toggle Wi-Fi on the iPhone, and if needed, reset network settings so old routes and cached AirPrint data are discarded.
4) Update printer firmware so large PDFs and complex jobs don’t get stuck in the AirPrint pipeline.

If a friend says their iPhone print job is stuck on Preparing, that AirPrint keeps saying Preparing but never prints, or that their iPad print queue won’t clear, you can share these steps — or just have them start a chat with an expert and we’ll walk through the spool reset live with them.
Customer
Perfect, I feel a lot more confident now. I know how to get to Print Center, how to reset AirPrint when “Preparing” won’t finish, and what to check on the printer and Wi-Fi side. If it starts acting up again, I’ll jump back into chat. Thanks for all the help!
Technician avatar Technician
Any time! If someone in your home or office is staring at an iPhone or iPad stuck on “Preparing” when printing, you now know the quick checklist: clear Print Center, reboot printer and router, reset iOS network settings, update firmware — that’s your “spool reset” playbook for iOS.

And if you’d rather have someone check your exact AirPrint, router, and printer model with you, just start a chat with an expert and we’ll get your iOS printing working reliably again.

Quick answer: the accepted fix

Accepted fix when iOS printing stops at “Preparing”: open Print Center and cancel all jobs, then force-close the app you’re printing from. Power-cycle the printer and Wi-Fi router, toggle Wi-Fi off and on on your iPhone or iPad, and try a small AirPrint job again. If it still hangs on “Preparing”, reset network settings on iOS and update the printer’s firmware so AirPrint can send larger PDFs without stalling. Together this acts as a full AirPrint spool reset and clears most iPhone/iPad printing issues.

Why iOS printing gets stuck on “Preparing”

Most cases of an iPhone or iPad stuck on “Preparing” when printing are not hardware failures — they come from the AirPrint pipeline between iOS, your Wi-Fi network, and the printer. When you tap Print, iOS has to discover the printer over Bonjour, build a print file, and hand it over to the printer’s AirPrint service. If the printer’s firmware is outdated, the Wi-Fi router blocks multicast, or the iOS print spool contains corrupt jobs, that “Preparing” step can get stuck indefinitely.

Things that commonly trigger this include iOS updates with old printer firmware, routers with guest or isolated networks, VPNs or firewall apps that block local traffic, and large PDFs that stress a buggy AirPrint implementation. The fix is usually not to replace the printer, but to reset the iOS print queue, reboot the printer and router, and refresh network settings so AirPrint starts from a clean slate.

How to tell if “Preparing” is an iOS, printer, or Wi-Fi problem

When iOS printing stops at Preparing, it helps to test each part of the chain separately. First, try printing a very simple page from an Apple app (Mail, Notes, Safari) using Share → Print. If small jobs work but big PDFs don’t, your AirPrint spooler and Wi-Fi are mostly fine and the issue is likely printer firmware or how complex documents are handled.

If every job from every app hangs on “Preparing”, even tiny emails, suspect a stuck iOS print queue or network issue. Clear jobs in Print Center, reboot the printer and router, and test again. If other devices can print but your iPhone cannot, resetting network settings on the iPhone and reconnecting to Wi-Fi often restores AirPrint. If no device can print, the problem is typically with the printer’s AirPrint feature or the router, and you may need to update firmware or adjust Wi-Fi settings so Bonjour and AirPrint traffic are allowed.

iOS printing stops at “Preparing” — quick troubleshooting tips

Clear the AirPrint queue and restart the iPhone–Wi-Fi–printer chain in the right order.

Fast path: when AirPrint is stuck on Preparing, open Print Center and cancel all jobs, then force-close the app you were printing from. Turn your printer and Wi-Fi router off and back on, reconnect your iPhone or iPad to the main Wi-Fi network, and try a small test job from an Apple app. If larger PDFs still hang at “Preparing”, reset network settings on iOS and update the printer’s firmware — this combination fixes most iOS print spool problems for HP, Canon, Epson, and Brother printers.

Disclaimer: This information is AI-generated and intended for general guidance only. For advice specific to your iPhone or iPad model, printer firmware, router configuration, and AirPrint setup, please consult a verified expert on Whizz-Tech before making changes.

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FAQ

Why does my iPhone or iPad get stuck on “Preparing” when printing?

Most of the time an iPhone stuck on “Preparing” means the AirPrint spooler can see your printer but cannot finish preparing or sending the job. Common causes include corrupt jobs in Print Center, Wi-Fi issues between the iOS device and the printer, router settings that block Bonjour, or outdated printer firmware. Clearing Print Center, power-cycling the printer and router, and updating firmware usually resolve it.

Is “Preparing” an iOS problem or a printer problem?

The “Preparing” status comes from iOS. It’s the stage where your iPhone or iPad creates the print file and hands it to the printer via AirPrint. If it hangs there, the printer may never see a complete job. Fixing it usually involves steps on both sides: resetting the iOS print queue and network settings, plus checking the printer’s Wi-Fi connection and AirPrint firmware.

How do I reset the print spool or queue on iOS?

On iOS there isn’t a visible “spooler” app, but you can still reset the print queue. Start a print, then open the App Switcher and tap Print Center. Cancel all jobs listed there, then force-close the app you were printing from. If the problem persists, power-cycle the printer and router and, if needed, use Reset Network Settings on the iPhone or iPad to fully refresh the AirPrint connection.

Do I need a special app if AirPrint always stops at “Preparing”?

In most cases, you don’t need a special app — you just need to get AirPrint healthy again by clearing Print Center, rebooting devices, and updating printer firmware. Some manufacturers offer companion apps (HP Smart, Canon, Epson apps) that can help print complex documents or update firmware more easily, but a properly configured AirPrint setup should be able to print without extra apps or drivers.

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