Apple claims macOS Big Sur to be its most revolutionary update for any operating system and thus released it as a whole new version macOS 11. However, many Mac users complain that after upgrading to macOS 11 Big Sur they are encountering difficulties with printing from their printer. Error messages like ‘a communication problem’ and ‘printer offline’ are displayed. This problem is witnessed for both USB and wireless printers. If your printer has stopped working after you updated to Apple macOS 11 Big Sur, then we are sharing the solutions below.

Why Printing Problem Occurs in macOS 11 Big Sur?

This problem occurs in macOS 11 due to compatibility issues between the OS and the printer driver/firmware. Actually, none of the printer drivers are designed by Apple and the default ones provided in the OS are provided by the printer manufacturer. Therefore, the printer driver that got installed with macOS Big Sur is the one that was provided by the printer manufacturer as the most suitable driver for your printer. It means, Apple can’t do much to solve this problem. However, this doesn’t mean there is no solution.

Solutions for Printer Has Stopped Working After Updated To Apple MacOS 11 Big Sur

There are two methods you can try to resolve this issue.

A) Download & Install Latest Printer Drivers for macOS 11 Big Sur

1: Download HP Uninstaller.zip. Unzip it into a folder and double click the HP Uninstaller icon

2: Click ‘Open’ to run the uninstaller and follow the instructions to remove HP software and driver.

3: For HP printers, you can visit HP Printer Drivers and Software Download page. 
    Type your printer name and click submit to the search.


4: On the support page of your printer, find the driver for Mac OS 11 and download it. 
    If the Big Sur 11 driver is not available then you can download and install the 10.15 (Catalina), 
    it does work most of the time.

5: Reinstall your HP printer using this new driver.

Hopefully, this should solve your problem. If it doesn’t, then try the next solution.

B) Use Apple AirPrint

If the above solution doesn’t work for you, then it means that neither HP nor Apple has drivers for your printer which are fully compatible with macOS 11. However, you can bypass this problem by using Apple AirPrint to operate your printer. The benefit of using Apple AirPrint is that it doesn’t require driver updates.

However, not every printer model is supported by Apple AirPrint. You can view the list of printer models supported by Apple AirPrint on the About AirPrint page.

Apple has still not announced any solution for the Apple macOS 11 Bug Sur printer problem. Therefore, unless that happens you can try the solutions suggested above. For many modern printers, one of the above solutions will work.

After following up on the above-mentioned steps, your HP Printer issue will be resolved surely, if not, then you must connect with our Hewlett Packard Printer Service providers by dialing HP Printer Support Number +1-(833)-419-0851 to get all fixing resolutions. Our HP Customer Service providers are available 24/7 to hear all your possible issues and provide you the assurance in fixing your error issues in time.