Receipt printer not printing: diagnosis and fix

Orders are landing but nothing is coming out of the printer. Printer configuration lives on the device that runs Eatsy (the iPad Kiosk app or the Order Management tablet), not in admin.eatsyorders.com, so the cause is almost always in one of four places. Work through them in order.

Quick checks (try these first)

1. Run a test print. On the device the printer is paired to, open Settings → Printers and tap “Print test receipt.” If the test receipt comes out, the printer and its connection are fine and the problem is routing: jump straight to Hypothesis 3. If nothing comes out, it’s connection, paper, or hardware.
2. Change the paper roll. A roll that still looks full can be at the end of its usable length. Load a fresh 80mm roll and run the test print again. This alone solves a surprising share of cases.
3. Confirm the printer is still in the list. Same panel, Settings → Printers. If the printer isn’t listed at all, the device lost it: re-add it with Add Printer. If it is listed and the test print still fails, keep reading.

Diagnose the root cause

Hypothesis 1: the printer lost its connection to the device

Printers pair with the device, not with the Eatsy dashboard. If that link drops, the order arrives on the tablet normally and simply never reaches the printer.

How to verify. Open Settings → Printers on the device. If the printer is missing from the list, or it’s listed but “Print test receipt” produces nothing, the connection is your problem. Bluetooth is the usual suspect: it works within about 30 feet, and a crowded Wi-Fi environment (dozens of phones on your network at lunch) causes dropouts. If the printer is networked over Wi-Fi or Ethernet, confirm the location’s internet is actually up. Printers wired straight to the iPad by USB or Bluetooth keep printing already-fired tickets during an outage, but network-connected printers do not. See Internet outage during service.

How to fix. For USB, reseat the cable at both ends (including the USB-C adapter if you use one), then re-add the printer under Settings → Printers → Add Printer and test print. For Bluetooth, re-pair the printer in the iPad or tablet Bluetooth settings first, then re-add it in the Eatsy app. If it drops every few orders, move the printer closer to the device or switch it to USB, which is the more reliable connection. Full pairing steps are in Receipt printers: pairing, configuration, and daily operations.

Hypothesis 2: paper or hardware state

The printer is connected and the app sees it, but the hardware itself can’t complete a print.

How to verify. Load a fresh roll and run a test print. If receipts print but cut in the middle, that points to a low roll or a worn cutter rather than a printing failure. If your printer is a generic or no-brand ESC/POS unit rather than a Star or an Epson, check it against Supported receipt printers: some low-end units implement only part of ESC/POS, so they pair fine and then fail under real service.

How to fix. Replace the roll, and keep at least 6 spare 80mm rolls behind the counter so this never happens mid-rush. For a worn cutter or any mechanical fault, follow the manufacturer’s manual: that part of the hardware isn’t something we configure. If the printer is a best-effort model that has never printed reliably, replace it with an officially supported one. For a printer sitting on the cookline, an impact model like the Star Micronics SP742 handles kitchen heat better than a thermal printer.

Hypothesis 3: the printer isn’t assigned to the order types you expect

If the test print works but real tickets never print, the printer is healthy and the routing is wrong. This is the most misread case: a kitchen printer that doesn’t print customer receipts is often working exactly as configured.

How to verify. Check two places. On the device, Settings → Printers, confirm the printer is paired. Then in admin.eatsyorders.com, go to Account → Settings → Printers and check that the printer is enabled and see which order types and stations route to it. Kitchen printers are usually set to receive only the “in-prep” tickets, while front-of-house printers receive customer receipts.

How to fix. In Account → Settings → Printers, assign the order types and stations you actually want on that device, and save. Your original routing rules were set with your onboarding manager during the device pairing call, so if you’re not sure what the intended setup was, ask us before rearranging it. In a standard dual-printer setup, the kitchen printer is paired to the Order Management tablet and the receipt printer to the iPad Kiosk or POS station.

Hypothesis 4: the orders aren’t reaching the device at all

If the ticket never lands on the tablet, nothing will print and the printer is innocent.

How to verify. Look at the Order Management tablet. Every order from every channel (Branded App, Microsite, QR, iPad Kiosk) should appear on the live kanban in real time, with an audio alert on arrival. If the ticket isn’t on the kanban, the problem is upstream of the printer. Check the connection badge: the kitchen tablet shows a green “Connected” badge top-right when it’s online.

How to fix. If the tablet isn’t connected, work through Internet outage during service. If the tablet is connected, tickets are arriving, and the test print works but real orders still don’t print, stop here and contact us with a specific order number. It’s also worth confirming your team knows the four-status flow and doesn’t dismiss the audio alert without reading the ticket: see Order Management training for kitchen staff.