Trying to find an older document you have printed? Or want to delete a secretive document from print history?
No matter what your reason is. Knowing how to check printer history can always come in handy. But how can you check print history?
Well, I have got your back. Because in this article, I am going to describe every possible way of checking printer history on different windows versions along with network printer history checking. So, stay with us till the end.
How To View Printer History
You have to take a little bit different approach to view printer history on windows devices, Mac, and other network devices.
If you have all devices in your home, you must have proper knowledge of how to view printer history and deal with it.
How To Check Printer History on Windows Devices
In this section, we will be learning different techniques for finding out printer history on the most popular Windows versions. Let’s start with Windows 7.
How To Check Print History Windows 7
One of the most common reasons for wanting to check your print history is to find out who printed a document. Windows 7 keeps track of every document that is printed, including the date and time it was printed, and the name of the printer that was used.
To check your print history in Windows 7,
- Open the Control Panel and click on the “Printers” icon.
- In the Printers window, click on the “History” tab.
- The History tab displays a list of all the documents that have been printed on your printer. The list includes the date and time the document was printed, the name of the document, and the name of the printer that was used.
This is the simplest method to check printer history on Windows 7. But if you have multiple printers connected to your Windows 7 PC then it won’t work. So, follow the below method
- Search for Printers and Faxes from the search menu.
- Click and enter Into the Printers and Faxes
- In the Printers and Faxes window, select the printer for which you want to view the print history.
- In the toolbar, hit on the Properties button.
- In the Properties dialog box, click the Details tab.
- To view the details of a print job, click on the job’s title and Print History will open.
- Under Print History, you can view the document that was printed. The date and time that the document was printed are also displayed.
- Lastly, If you need to delete a job, click on the “Delete” button.
Now let’s have a look at how to check printer history on Windows 10.
How To Check Print History Windows 10
Like Windows 7, Windows 10 also has a built-in print history feature that keeps track of all the documents and pages you’ve printed from your computer. Moreover, checking print history is pretty similar to windows 7
To check your print history on Windows 10,
- Open the Settings app, and then select Devices.
- Find Printers & Scanners from devices
- After that select the printer you want to check the print history for.
- Then click on Open Queue.
- You will find the History tab where a list of all the print jobs that have been sent to the printer.
However, this will only work if the history setting is kept on. To turn on history settings
- Follow the above instructions and go to your printer list.
- Then select a printer and right-click on it.
- Go to properties>Advanced
- Lastly, keep printing documents and hit apply.
If this is too complicated for you then look at this second method.
- Open the Settings app and go to Devices > Printers & Scanners.
- Under “Recent Print Jobs”, you’ll see a list of all the documents and pages you’ve printed in the last few days.
- If you need to view older print jobs, you can click the “See all print jobs” link to view a list of all your print jobs, sorted by date.
In this method, you can also search for a specific print job by typing a keyword into the search bar.
If you want to view the details of a printing job, select the job and click the View Details button. The Details window will open and it will show the date and time the job was sent to the printer, the name of the printer, the number of pages, the type of the document, and the size of the document.
At this time let’s look at Windows 11.
How To Check Print History Windows 11
If you are a new Windows 11 user then we have got you covered too. Because here we will show you how to check the print history in Windows 11 so that you can troubleshoot any printing issues.
To check the print history in Windows 11, follow these steps:
- Open the Control Panel.
- Click on the Administrative Tools icon.
- Double-click on the Services icon.
- Scroll down and locate the Print Spooler service.
- Right-click on the Print Spooler service and select Properties.
- Click on the Log On tab.
- Make sure the Local System account is selected and click OK.
- Close the Services window.
Well, we have covered all the popular Windows versions. But what about MAC?
How To Check Printer History Mac
- Open the “System Preferences” by clicking on the cogwheel icon located at the bottom of the Mac screen. There, you can find a new window.
- Click on “Printers and Scanners”
- Select your particular printer
- Click on the top menu and select “Show Completed Prints” to get access of already printed files.
- Click on “Print on Queue” to check the files waiting for being printed.
Lastly, let’s have a look at How to check print history on a network printer.
How To Check Print History On Network Printer
When you need to check the print history on a network printer, you can use the Print History utility. This utility allows you to view the print jobs that have been sent to the printer. You can also view the status of the printer, and the amount of paper that is currently in the printer’s paper tray.
To access the Print History utility, open the Printers folder, and then double-click the Print History utility. The Print History utility will open and will display the print jobs that have been sent to the printer.
Moreover, there are a few other ways to do it too.
- One way is to open the printer’s Properties window and select the History tab. This will show you a list of all the jobs that have been sent to the printer, along with the date and time they were printed.
- Another way is to open the Event Viewer and look for any entries related to the printer. This can be a little more tricky, since there may be a lot of entries to scroll through, but it can be useful for tracking down specific jobs.
- Finally, you can also check the printer’s queue to see what jobs are currently waiting to be printed. This can be done from the Printers folder in the Control Panel, or from the printer’s Properties window.
How to Delete Printer History
- Go to “Control Panel>Hardware and Sound>DEvices and Printers”
- Then, select your printer and click on “See Wat’s Printing”
- If you want to delete a particular print history, choose the file and delete it.
- But in case of deleting the entire print history, select “cancel all documents”.
By now you should be able to check any printer history on any operating system. For your convenience let’s have a look at some of the frequently asked questions.
FAQs
1. Do Printers Save History?
The answer to this question is a resounding yes! Printers do save history and there are many reasons why this is the case. The main reason is printers play an important role in the preservation of documents in an office environment. This is because they help to ensure that these documents are legible and accessible for the future. However, if you don’t want it then you can turn this off.
2. Do Home Printers Store Information?
The answer to this question is: it depends on the printer and its settings. Some printers do not store any information, while others may store limited information. In most cases, home printers store a limited amount of information, such as the last document that was printed or the user’s name and contact information. However, in some cases, home printers can store a significant amount of information, such as the user’s entire digital library.
3. How Do I Recover A Printed Document?
There are a few ways to print a document again if it has been lost or accidentally deleted. One way is to find the document on the computer’s hard drive and print it from there. Secondly, you can take the help of printer history to recover. Lastly, you can use a document recovery program to find and print the document.
Final Words
We have tried to inform you of every little detail about how to check printer history In 2022.
We hope you have found it useful. At first, you may find the process a little bit tricky. But after some time, the whole process will become a piece of cake for you.
That’s all for today. Thanks for staying with us till here. Have a very nice day!
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