Network printer prints endless pages of random symbols and gibberish text code

Avagon Zales 40 Reputation points
2026-06-03T15:00:00.3566667+00:00

Hey everyone,

I tried to print a single-page PDF invoice to my office printer today. Instead of the document, the printer began spewing out page after page of a single line of weird ASCII symbols, smiley faces, and blank code lines. It won't stop until I pull the paper tray out. Is this a corrupted print driver language conflict (PCL vs PostScript)?

Windows for business | Windows Client for IT Pros | User experience | Print, fax, and scan
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Answer accepted by question author
Tracy Le 13,050 Reputation points Independent Advisor
2026-06-03T15:59:16.52+00:00

Hi Avagon Zales,

To stop this loop right now, you should open Command Prompt as an administrator and execute the command net stop spooler followed by Del /F /Q %systemroot%\System32\Spool\Printers* and net start spooler to purge the stuck job from the print spooler cache directory.

Once the queue is clear, you can permanently fix this language mismatch by navigating to Settings, selecting Printers & scanners, and opening your office device properties. Under the Advanced tab, switch the active driver from a generic class driver or standard PCL6 configuration to a dedicated model-specific PostScript 3 driver which handles complex PDF objects much more reliably.

Hope this answer has brought you some useful information. If it did, please hit “accept answer”. Should you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment.

Tracy.

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  1. AI answer

    2026-06-03T15:00:18.6066667+00:00

    Yes, this behavior is consistent with a printer language/driver mismatch or incorrect device codes being sent to the printer.

    When a printer receives data in a language it does not understand (for example, PostScript data sent to a PCL-only queue, or raw control codes sent incorrectly), it often prints pages of random ASCII characters, symbols, and control-code gibberish instead of the intended document.

    Key causes from the provided information:

    1. Incorrect device/control codes
      If using a Generic/Text Only or similar driver and custom device codes are configured incorrectly, the printer can interpret them as printable characters and produce pages of ASCII codes and symbols instead of controlling the device.
    2. Wrong printer emulation/driver (PCL vs PostScript vs others)
      Printers require the print job to be encoded in a language they understand (PCL, PostScript, etc.). If the driver’s emulation does not match what the printer supports or is configured for, the job becomes “undecipherable” and prints as raw gibberish.

    Recommended actions based on this:

    1. Verify and correct the printer driver/emulation
      • On the print server or client, check which driver is selected for that network printer.
      • Ensure the driver’s emulation (PCL, PostScript, or other) matches what the printer is configured to use. If unsure, switch to the printer’s recommended or default language (often PCL) and test again.
      • If a PostScript driver is currently in use and causing issues, try a PCL driver for the same printer model and re-test.
    2. Avoid or fix Generic/Text Only and custom device codes
      • If the queue is using Generic/Text Only, and custom device codes were added (for example, for form feeds or control sequences), remove or correct them. Incorrect device codes can cause ASCII code output.
      • Device codes must be entered correctly (for example, as decimal values using ALT+numeric keypad when configuring Generic/Text Only). Incorrect values can lead to the printer printing the codes instead of acting on them.
    3. Reinstall or update the printer driver
      • Remove the problematic printer from Windows.
      • Install or update to the correct, current driver for that printer model and language (PCL or PostScript) and then re-add the printer.

    If, after switching to the correct emulation/driver and fixing any device codes, the printer still prints gibberish, test with a simple text document from Notepad using the corrected driver. If Notepad prints correctly but PDFs do not, the issue is likely with the PDF workflow or application rather than the printer driver itself.

    References:

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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